The Monster You Made
by Imperium Byzantion
Summary: "Don't be a goddamn hypocrite. You sit there and point your big ass sword at me and call me a monster when all you useless shitstains need to do is look in the mirror. What you all fail to realize is that I'm nothing more than a shadow cast by the light that shines out of the world's collective asshole. Yeah, I'm a monster, but you were the ones who made me who I am." -Naruto U.
1. A World Fractured

Alright, here we go.

Another story from the dark and twisted place that is my mind! This one is probably going to be a big a pain in the ass as my Kämpfer of Pain story is. The world of Infinite Stratos is a confusing place. For the security of this story and later content, this shall be dubbed with an "M" rating due to the admin taking down stories because some little bitch complained.

Because honestly, that's how all of these things start out.

So… anyway, I own nothing except this story.

Anyways, enjoy.

*******The*Monster*You*Made*******

It was quiet, too quiet. As cliché as that sounds, the streets of the New York's slums were utterly devoid of occupation. Not a single person roamed the streets, not a single car weaved through them. It was eerie. Not even the occasional stray cat or dog was visible.

The only sound that pierced the silence was the low rumble of a US Marine Corps M2A3 'Bradley' Assault Personnel Carrier's engine as it slowly rolled through the silent streets and the quiet hum of the streetlights that lined the road. The M242 turret mounted atop the machine seemed to constantly be in motion, as if its operator was looking for something.

Inside the APC was a squad of five marines sitting dejectedly in the rear bay, a driver, and a turret operator.

"Shit, this really fuckin' weird, where the hell is everybody?" the drive commented warily.

"I know, last I heard, these places are usually jumpin, even at this hour," the turret operator replied, "Hey, you know that feeling you get when somethin' really bad's gonna happen?"

"Yeah? What about it?"

"I don't know man, 'cause right now, I get the feeling that we'll be in deep shit at some point,"

The driver snorted, "Man, we're already in deep shit. Just look what we're doin', we've become fuckin' delivery boys!"

"**Ninja-3-3, this is Shogun, how copy?"** a voice suddenly called form the APC's comm-radio.

"**This is Ninja-3-3, we'll be at base Delta in 5 mikes, over," **the APC's driver replied back.

"**Roger that, Ninja-3-3, maintain present course," **'Shogun' responded.

While the driver and the gunner were chatting away in the front, the five soldiers in the back were having their own. Only theirs was a little bit more outspoken.

"Man, why're we here anyway? We're supposed to be the best soldiers around, handlin' all sorts of heavy-duty shit, not escortin' a fuckin' box across town! Give this shit to the fuckin' bitches and their fuckin' bitch-suits," one of the soldiers growled lowly.

Another soldier looked up at the speaker, "Shit, you wanna give the pussy-lickers somethin' else to sing praises about? Bad enough the shit they're saying already, we don't need another spiel about this whole 'women-strong-men-weak' bullshit again!"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard that, man," agreed another.

"**BEEP BEEEP CAUTION CAUTION. IMPACT IMMINENT," **the alarm klaxon wailed as it detected a white tanker truck sailing through the air, headed straight for them.

"SHIT! BRACE!" Was the last thing anyone heard in the APC before it was hit with what seemed to be a flying, oversized missile.

The truck collided with the APC and exploded, the sheer force of the impact and the detonation being enough to send the 28 ton war machine sailing through the air. The APC rolled violently down the street, tossing the soldiers inside around, before colliding with a building and exploding.

The only surviving soldier gagged on a glob of blood as he came to moments after the explosion flung him into a car. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears as he fought away another wave of blackness. He felt weak and pain flashed through his bruised and battered body almost constantly. He looked up at the buildings above him and winced before rolling over onto his hands and knees.

He slowly stood up and beheld the bloody body of one of his comrades lying next to a huge piece of building that had fallen due to the explosion. He turned his head and felt bile rise in his throat as he saw two more in their own pools of blackened blood. Fire blazed all around him, and the smoldering ruin of the APC stood out like the skeleton of some great beast.

Through his shell shock, the soldier heard a radio blaring loudly from the pocket of his commanding officer's body.

"**Ninja-3-3, what is the status of your squad?"**

The soldier panted and limped over to the body that held the radio. He gasped as pain rocketed through his body and leaned against a burned out car, praying that the agony would stop.

"**Ninja-3-3, this is Shogun. Radio check."**

He struggled to make his way over to the body, but made it and began to shakily undo the Velcro to the radio pouch on the corspe's tactical vest.

"**Ninja-3-3, do you need cas-evac?"**

Eventually freeing the radio, the soldier brought it to his lips, "Shogun, this is Ninja-3-3."

'Shogun' sounded relieved, **"Copy, Three-Three. What's your status? Do you have the package?"**

"Verifying…," he whispered hoarsely.

The soldier limped around the concrete slab and stared at the wreckage of the APC, only to backpedal as another explosion showered him with gravel. He peeked back around and heard a low 'whooshing' sound. His head snapped to the right to behold a humanoid figure diving toward the street from the sky with eerie trails of green energy streaming behind him. The figure twisted in midair and landed harshly on his feet, the sheer force of impact being enough to create a shockwave that knocked him off his feet.

The figure, obviously a human male in shape, slowly stood up. His upper body was clad in three layers of clothing. He wore a white button-up shirt with the top two buttons undone, a hooded black and orange jacket, and an unzipped black leather jacket with two white bands around the upper arms and a set of odd green tribal wings stitched across his back. He also wore a pair of dark blue jeans and simple black sneakers. His face was covered by the shadows of his hood.

The soldier's eyes widened in terror, "Holy shit…," he breathed. The hooded figure was unmistakable. It was…

"Uzumaki Naruto…"

The radio operator responded almost instantly, **"Uzumaki Naru-? Oh shit! Blue Valkyrie, we've got Uzumaki Naruto in SD Grid 3-4. Prority One Ordinance on mark! Repeat: Uzumaki Naruto in the AO! SD Grid 3-4 is hot, we are awaiting your command!"**

Said figure, now identified as Uzumaki Naruto, casually walked over to the downed APC and carelessly backhanded the remains of the 28 ton machine out of his path like they weighed nothing. The burned-out shell flew through the air and landed nearly a half block away with a mighty crash.

Naruto walked over to the body of one of the troopers and leaned down, gripping the corpse by its tactical vest and examining it before roughly throwing it back down with a shake of his head and continuing on to another body.

"**Ninja-3-3, this is Blue Valkyrie. We are sending reinforcements to your position. Do not engage Uzumaki. Repeat: Do not engage Uzumaki," **an unfamiliar woman's voice droned through the soldier's radio.

But the sergeant didn't hear any of that; he was too scared and too shocked by the inhuman power the man in front of him was exhibiting. Uzumaki was supposed to be a terrorist, not some monster with superhuman strength!

Still though, his back was turned. If the soldier could do it quick enough, he could slice Uzumaki's throat and be done with this madness.

"Blue Valkyrie be advised, going in for the kill," he muttered, turning his radio off before 'Blue Valkyrie' could reply.

He shakily unsheathed his combat knife and unholstered his pistol. And with adrenaline rushing through his system and instinct driving him, the soldier dashed forward and quickly sliced the young man's throat causing a fountain of, not blood, but sparks to fly from his throat. Naruto stopped his examination of the corpse, and promptly spun around, lazily backhanding the shocked soldier back into a nearby overturned van.

Naruto stood up and turned around, making a show of cracking the joints in his unmarked neck and leveling the downed soldier with a luminous acid-green eyed stare. He looked at the soldier for a moment before silently shaking his head with an amused smile and walking away.

Primal anger suddenly surged through the soldier's veins, this… this freak had killed his friends and humiliated him! He wasn't going to let the bastard get away with this! He stumbled to his feet and rushed at Naruto, who still had his back turned towards him.

"Die, Uzumaki!" he roared as he stabbed at the hooded man, completely disregarding the results of the first attempt.

The knife did not even nick the outside of Naruto's jacket, instead bouncing off like it collided with a wall of steel. Naruto stopped, spun around, and grabbed the offending irritation by his neck in a vice-grip.

Naruto's glowing eyes remained impassive as they gazed at the struggling soldier in his grasp.

"You know," he began calmly, "most people would've run away after failing to hurt me once… but then again, people would've run away after simply SEEING me. Something tells me you're not the brightest bulb in the bunch."

"Y-you monster," the soldier wheezed, struggling to breathe in Naruto's unrelenting grip.

Naruto chuckled lightly, "Monster? I suppose you could call me that, among other things… terrorist, murderer… I've heard it all before, nothing new. Now, let's get down to business, where's that package you were escorting?"

The soldier spat in his face, "Fuck you…"

Naruto flicked the spit off his face and frowned in irritation.

He was about to start ripping off his captive's fingers when he spotted something silver in his peripherals. He glanced to the side and gave a sinister little grin as he saw the silver case leaning innocently against a nearby building.

He turned back to his captive, "Well, what do you know? That's convenient."

With a single gesture, Naruto snapped the soldier's neck and tossed the body to the side carelessly. He strode across the street and scooped the case up. He gave a light squeeze and ripped the bulletproof container apart, revealing the contents inside.

Inside the case's remains was a foam enclosure containing a single heavy-duty flash drive. The blond plucked it from its protective covering and held it up to his eyes. He shrugged and popped the flash drive into his mouth like a piece of candy and swallowed. His eyes glazed over as images flashed across his mind, images of important documents, pictures, and audio files.

"_You know your orders right?"_ a male voice echoed.

"_Yes sir, I'm to bring this to the I.S. academy and hand the package off to them," _another voice, probably a soldier's, responded.

"_Good, dismissed."_

"_Uh, sir?"_

"_What is it lieutenant?"_ the first voice sounded slightly irritated.

"_Why are we transferring the package to Japan?"_

"_None of your damn business, now back to your post!"_

"_Yes, sir."_

Naruto reviewed what he just heard and gave a small smile, "Well, I guess I'm going to Japan…"

He was cut off from his thoughts by the furious whirl of helicopter blades as a Blackhawk armed to the teeth swung over his positions and leveled its weapons on him.

"**This is Ballista-1-2; I have Uzumaki in my sights, engaging." **

"Ah, I don't think so," Naruto rolled his neck and smiled benignly up at the aircraft, a sinister gleam in his eyes.

*******The*Monster*You*Made*******

"Sir, we just lost Ballista-1-2!" a soldier shouted out from his computer aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S Ronald Reagan.

"Goddamn that Uzumaki!" General Bradford "Brad" Swanson snarled angrily, slamming his fist onto the table.

He took a deep breath and counted to ten. Once he was calm, he walked over to a holographic map of the New York AO (Area of Operations). The glowing map was pockmarked with several small red dots at various points. Each dot marked the location where Uzumaki had personally fucked up their operations. Beside the map was a blurry photograph of a hooded figure, Uzumaki Naruto. It was the only known photo of the terrorist, most of the information pertaining to his appearance and capabilities was mere speculation.

He was one elusive motherfucker, of that General Swanson was certain.

"Perkins!" He barked suddenly.

Within seconds, a young man in BDU was at his side.

"You called, sir?" he said with rigid salute.

"Yes, get me in contact with those bitches at the ISC and ask them why the FUCK are we doing this without any I.S. cover! Tell them that my men are dying out there and they can't spare one fucking machine!"

"Right away, sir!" Perkins replied and quickly went about his orders.

The general sighed loudly and walked over to his office, collapsing bonelessly in his chair and resting his forehead on his steepled fingers.

"Fuckin' bitch. Things have gone to hell since she built those things…" he muttered.

The "bitch" in question was arguably the most well-known scientist in the world, a young woman by the name of Tabane Shinanono. Years ago, Tabane herself developed a sort of powersuit for use in the exploration of space. Unfortunately, it unsuited for the task it was designed for, but WAY more suited for use as a weapon. Naturally this caused a panic when the UN realized that if this new weapon wasn't controlled, then it would mean a global war. So the UN passed the Alaska Treaty, which divided up the 467 I.S. cores, the component that allowed them to function, equally among the countries. The I.S. was forbidden for use in military operations unless sanctioned by the UN or the Infinite Stratos Commission (ISC) and was reduced to competition and sport. The I.S. naturally made all weapons obsolete, but there was a catch to use this massive power.

The I.S. could only be piloted by women.

This little condition flipped the whole world upside down. Quickly, the mentality of "Women=Strong, Men=Weak" took root and the fairer sex became the dominant gender. Men weren't as respected as they were before and were often viewed as little more than slaves. Hell' it wasn't uncommon, especially in Japan, to see random women beating up men they didn't know in the streets without consequences.

It was sickening.

"Sir, the Chairwoman for the ISC is on line 4," Perkins's voice chimed from Swanson's desk phone, breaking him out of his thoughts.

The general steeled himself and pressed a button, raising the phone to his ear. He mentally chanted a mantra to keep his considerable temper in check.

"_Ah, General Swanson, what a pleasure it is to speak to you again," _a nasally female voice said on the other end.

Almost instantly, just from the way she was talking DOWN at him, the general felt a surge of anger pulse across his brain.

"Chairwoman Tatsuki, you know why I'm calling, don't you?" he said, fighting to keep the venom out of his voice.

"_Hmm, no, I can't say that I do. Why don't you explain it to me?"_

Swanson ground his teeth, "Don't give me that bullshit! You know damn well why! I just lost twelve men toady, twelve of the finest soldiers I have! And guess what, because we didn't have the proper backup, a wanted terrorist is walking away with a fuckload of classified intelligence! If your I.S. is so goddamned powerful, why aren't they doing the missions!"

"_General Swanson! I will not be spoken to in that manner! Know your place, filthy male! Next time you raise your voice to me, I'll have your job!"_ the chairwoman of the ISC shrieked in his ear.

"Understood," he growled, knowing full well the kind of influence that the woman had in the UN.

"_That's understood, madam," _she corrected as if she was talking to a five year old.

"Understood, _madam,_" he sneered.

"_Very good. Now, if you're done wasting my time, I have a pedicure scheduled. Goodbye General Swanson. Oh, and General Swanson, the I.S. is far too important to spare on your trivial little missions, make sure you remember that. Ja Ne, General," _she hung up.

"Motherfucking bitch!" he snarled, slamming the phone down on the cradle.

He clenched his jaw and took a huge swig of the coffee sitting at his desk. He slammed the mug back down and growled.

"I hope she enjoys dealing with fuckups, because if she doesn't, she's definitely not going to like it when Uzumaki comes knocking."

He gave a savage little grin at the thought. If Uzumaki was a pain in the ass for him, then the terrorist was going to raise all hell when he made landfall in Japan. He raised his mug to no one in particular and took a long drink.

The general pressed a button on his phone, "Perkins."

"_Yes, sir?"_

"The ISC said that they're too good for petty matter such as terrorists, so I see no reason to bother them with trifling intelligence on Uzumaki," he said with a small, conspiratorial grin.

"_Yes sir,"_ Perkins hung up.

"Give 'em hell, Uzumaki," he muttered with a vengeful chuckle.

*******The*Monster*You*Made*******

Meanwhile, in the land of the rising sun, the whole nation was shocked to discover that a MALE was capable of piloting an Infinite Stratos. The boy's name was Orimura Ichika, the younger brother of Mondo Grosso champion, Chifuyu Orimura. He was apparently going to be admitted to the I.S. academy as the first and only male student.

Currently, Ichika was in his room in the house he shared with his sister, repeatedly thumping his head on the wall with a despondent look on his face. He was relatively tall for a Japanese boy and had messy black hair and odd, wine-colored eyes.

"My life is over…," he moaned.

"Quit your moaning, it's not the end of the world," a female voice quipped as a shadow appeared in the doorway. It was a tall woman with long, waist-length black hair arranged in a similar fashion to Ichika and sharp red eyes with an orange tint. Her model-like figure was clad in a loose black tank top that was a bit too short and a pair of jean shorts. She possessed an almost deadly sense of beauty.

"But Chifuyu-nee…," Ichika whined.

The woman, Chifuyu, merely shook her head and tossed a bundle of clothes at him. He caught them and stared at them confusedly. The bundle contained a white blazer trimmed in red and black with white pants.

"What are these?"

Chifuyu rolled her eyes at her younger brother's ignorance.

"That," she pointed at the clothes, "is your I.S. academy uniform."

She lazily pushed a box into the room and took a sip of her beer, "These are your textbooks and reference materials. Go over them."

Ichika cautiously opened the box and balked at the thickness of the books within. They must've been at LEAST 5 inches thick! He opened one and paled at the huge wall of text accompanied by a lack of diagrams or pictures. He turned back to Chifuyu with a horrified look on his face.

"Don't give me that look, It isn't as bad as you thi-," she trailed off suddenly, her head snapping to look out the window at the glimmering skyline in the distance.

"Chifuyu-nee, what is it?"

She let her gaze linger for moment before shaking her head, "It's nothing, now go to bed, you have a lot to do tomorrow."

She flicked the light off and disappeared into the hallway. Ichika cast one last worried look at the door before climbing into bed and falling asleep.

In her own bed, Chifuyu lay awake, her eyes staring warily at the sky through the skylight that loomed over her. She didn't know how to describe it, but she could feel something in the air.

"Something's coming, I can feel it…" she breathed, her eyes closing.

And as she slept, she dreamed of fire.

*******The*Monster*You*Made*******

The receptionist at Tokyo airport blushed heavily as a certain hooded man took his bags and verified his passports. He was incredibly handsome with sharp, regal features with a slight wild charm added by the three ragged scars crossing each cheek. Locks of spiky blond hair hung over his forehead and framed his face perfectly. He was deathly pale and looked like he had some gray tinting surrounding his eyes.

"Did you enjoy your flight?" she asked with smile.

Luminous acid-green eyes with eerily slit pupils glanced up at her, "Yes, ma'am."

She did one last check over of the blond's papers and gave another smile, handing his documents back.

"Alright, you're all set, sir. Enjoy your stay in Japan!" she said cheerily.

Naruto Uzumaki only grinned savagely, "Oh, don't worry, I will."

*******The*Monster*You*Made*******

So, what do you think?

Love it? Hate it? Whatever you feel about it, leave a review, it really helps me out. Don't worry about the shortness of this chapter, its only the prologue. The next ones will be longer.

Also, feel free to suggest things not pertaining to the pairing. I have that in mind already.

Oh, and a big thank you to my BETA ShadowAce117.

Imperium Rhomania


	2. Prototype

**Alright, CH-2 is up and ready to go!**

**Enjoy yourselves, but refrain from flaming me, I just won't read it.**

**But please, review, review, review.**

**Enjoy**

*******The*Monster*You*Made*******

In the dim light of a dying sun, people were in the process of setting up for something big in a nearby stadium park just outside downtown Tokyo. The people, mostly men sweating in the sweltering summer heat, were so preoccupied with their work that they didn't notice that they were being watched by a hooded figure with acidic green eyes.

For most people staring at the scene below, it would be far too distant to make out anything, but for Uzumaki Naruto, everything was in perfect clarity and then some. If one were to look through the eyes of the blond terrorist, they would've seen complicated scopes, reticles, and information pouring out, not unlike a HUD from a video game or a hyper-advanced rifle scope.

Naruto snorted as his eyes' targeting reticles focused on several high-security crates of varying sizes being unloaded by military helicopters and trucks. Information flashed across his brain as he began scanning them, discerning their contents to be I.S. or equipment for them.

"So this is it, eh?" he asked to seemingly no one.

"_**That's right, the International Infinite Stratos Expo…, the staging ground for the development of all I.S. technology, a place for the nations of the world to flaunt their prowess," **_a young-sounding male voice responded from inside his ears, though no earpiece was seen.

Naruto let out a low whistle when he saw multiple forms circling under the clouds, their bright armor glinting in the sunset. His eyes immediately zoomed in far beyond even the most sophisticated scope could ever handle, spying a trio of young girls clad in drab olive grey armor with a vague resemblance to samurai armor, most likely Japan's mass-production I.S., the _Uchigane_.

Idly, he also noticed the military checkpoints scattered on the roads leading to the stadium. The tanks and Anti-air turrets enforcing their positions didn't even give him pause.

"Security looks pretty tight, how am I gonna get in? I don't think just walking in there's gonna cut it this time…"

"_**Oho, since when did you ever give a damn about stealth? What happened to 'dismember first, ask questions never'?"**_ the voice sounded amused.

"Tch, don't be an jackass, I'm not stupid enough to take on those I.S. One, hell yeah, two, maybe if I go all out, three, fuck no," he admitted lowly, not at all pleased by the admission.

"_**Hmm, I see your point. Alright, we'll have to figure out an alternate route inside…,"**_ the voice trailed off, and the sound of fingers typing on keys was heard.

Naruto frowned in thought. He raised his hands and stared at them for a moment. While he wasn't weak by any standard, he had only really had his powers for around two years after the experiment had gone awry, and even after all that time he didn't fully understand what his body was capable of besides the ridiculous strength and near-god-like durability.

He sighed in reminiscence. The experiment was his genesis, his death and rebirth. Two years ago, he was a young 17-year old prodigy studying at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and trying to carve his own path away from his I.S.-obsessed family. His father, Namikaze Minato, was the CEO of Hiraishin Industries, a famous developer for I.S. technology. He was rarely home and left him and his younger sister in the care of their mother, Kushina, who never really paid attention to him and on not-so-rare cases was outright cruel to him. She was a bit of a feminist zealot, something that made him want to fly right back to the U.S. and tear her and all she held dear to pieces. As a result of her behavior and encouragement, his sister was equally cruel to him, especially during her I.S. training. Both females were test pilots for his father's I.S., the _Akaishi_ and the _Uzuhime_ respectively. He knew that he could take his sister, but his mother had years of experience, so she was currently a no-go… for now.

After dealing with the harshness of living in a house with the most detestable type of women in modern society, Naruto had enough. In a fashion that would make Sōsuke Aizen blush in envy, he manipulated his father in handing over one of his prototype I.S., the _Kurobikari_, for "research" purposes.

Looking back, the blond terrorist could only laugh at the gullibility of the man. Out of the 467 cores in the world, Minato possessed five. To give even one up to a student for "study" was just madness. It did help that the man was wasted when he agreed, though.

Once he absconded with the _Kurobikari_, he illegally opened the core, known as the blackbox to many, and began fiddling with the programming in an effort to get the machine to accept him as its pilot. It took nearly nine months and a complete overhaul of the unit's programming, but eventually he managed to get the machine to recognize and synchronize with him… kind of.

A glitch in the _Kurobikari's_ newly-constructed programming caused the I.S. to malfunction. It detected that Naruto's own body was a threat to its pilot's well-being. The machine completely destroyed his flesh and blood body and reconstructed it with its own components, which were made out of what he called "living metal".

In otherwords, he was technically a living, rogue I.S. that did as the persona of Uzumaki Naruto pleased. To be frank, he wasn't really Uzumaki Naruto, it just another moniker he responded to, similar to how a computer program is named. He was something else altogether.

He was an I.S. in the sense that his composition was similar to them on a purely basic level. Unlike his "sister" machines, he lacked the signature "absolute barrier", as well as everything else that made the I.S., well, the I.S. He did, however, possess a core buried inside his body.

Though this new body of his lacked any features the _Kurobikari_ had before the merge, it came with a few perks that more than made up for it. These were obviously his inhuman strength, durability, and regeneration. The last… was consumption, the ability for him to devour and assimilate technology into himself.

He had only recently discovered the power and thus had only consumed small items like flash drive and computers to extract their data.

But… there was a little experiment he'd wanted to do for a while now, why not now?

"Oi, I've got an idea…"

*******The*Monster*You*Made*******

As night fell and the workers, tired from their seemingly endless day, packed up and went home, Naruto was already on the move. He leapt from his perch and spread his arms out in the air like a skydiver and somehow began to glide at a decent speed towards the stadium. Wisps of green energy streamed from his arms as he descended.

He glanced up at the sky once more and saw the trio of I.S. from before circling the stadium like carrion birds circling a carcass. He gave a dark grin and resumed his descent. In the night, he was barely visible and due to his dark clothing and radar was useless against him for obvious reasons.

"All set?" he asked his contact calmly as he touched down on the street below, not really paying attention or caring about the cracks caused by his "soft" landing.

"_**Yeah, just don't overdo it too much. I did some digging and found out that those pilots are all relatively new from the I.S. academy so they won't pose as much a threat to you as veteran pilots will, but be careful nonetheless. This isn't the place for being cocky,"**_his contact warned, a faint bit of amusement in his tone.

"That's good, representative pilots would probably be bad news, even for me," he muttered sourly. Hopefully, if his experiment was successful, that would change.

He quickly scanned the area and frowned when he saw that the perimeter of the building was, predictably, locked town tight. The tanks, AA guns, commandos, etc. were all on high alert. Mentally, the blond cursed the Iranian terrorists that caused the security of all I.S. events to tighten.

Iran was one of worst opponents of the I.S., given their views on women, and had commissioned a squad of radical terrorists to the I.S. expo the year before and planned to take everyone hostage, only to be brutally cut down by a single, patrolling _Uchigane_. The sanctions that followed were… devastating, to say the least.

The blond shrugged, that was a case and point example of bringing a knife to a gunfight. He would be making no such mistake.

He rolled his neck, coiled his legs, and leapt high into the air and glided over the checkpoint without them being any of the wiser, though he made sure that he sent electromagnetic pulses downwards to fuck with their equipment. If he had time, he would come back and deal with them.

He landed in front of the door, which was more of a heavy-duty block of solid 4-inch thick steel on hinges, and glanced down at the glowing keypad with an eye-scanner, fingerprint identification, and password with a small grin spreading across his lips. To a normal person, or even a professional thief, this would've been impossible to crack. But to Uzumaki Naruto, it was child's play.

He unceremoniously placed his palm on the device and grinned savagely. The device stood no chance as the blond terrorist viciously hacked it and took complete control over not just the alarm, but the entirety of the building's security system. He even ripped through redundant systems meant to stop, or at the very least stall these malicious hacking attempts with ease.

"Tch, idiots…," he cackled quietly to himself as he opened the door and slipped into the darkness without anyone being the wiser.

In a world dependent on technology, he was every government's and military's worst nightmare. The I.S. was such an overpowered piece of technology that it made mincemeat out of everything else before it, so it was only natural that someone like him could hack even the most tightly secured networks and devices. How else would he be able to steal intelligence from the military in order to fuck up their operations?

After all, he, and every other I.S., were about as advanced from cutting edge technology as tanks were from medieval catapults.

Naruto prowled through the dark hallway, his luminescent eyes throwing an acid green light on the walls and lighting his way. Not that he needed it with his night-vision capabilities.

He mentally pulled up the floor plans of the stadium and began weaving through the halls towards the main staging grounds, where his primary target was exhibited. This year, the famous Russo-Japanese Super-Corporation Sarashiki Industries, a longtime rival of his father's own company, was premiering their new I.S. to entice a few potential buyers. It was called the _Toradora_ or something like that and it was supposed to be a prototype 3.5-gen to be used as a steeping tone towards progress on the 4th generation. The public saw it as majestic and beautiful, but Naruto saw it as _dinner_.

He soon came to a door not unlike the one he bypassed earlier.

He grinned widely, displaying his pearly white fang-like teeth and opened the door, unaware that he had been spotted by a passing patrolman.

*******The*Monster*You*Made*******

Yoshii Akuto was not having a good night.

He was being paid minimum wage to walk around in a dark building filled with billions of dollars in some of the most sophisticated weapons on earth. He questioned why he was even needed if the I.S. overwatch and the heavily fortified checkpoints were so efficient. If the building had as advanced a security system as powerful as his superiors said, why was a security detail even necessary?

Yoshii sighed tiredly. He was about to resume his patrol when he heard a low chuckling from around a nearby corner. He unconsciously gripped his rifle tighter and silently scooted along the wall. He poked his head out from the corner just to see a lone figure dressed in a black leather jacket and jeans enter the locked down exhibition area without even looking at the keypad next to the door.

He slowly picked up his radio.

It was going to be one of those days…

*******The*Monster*You*Made*******

Naruto entered the exhibition grounds and let out a low whistle at all the stands and exhibits displaying the finest I.S. weapons available. But Naruto didn't care for the weapons as much as he cared about paying a visit to the _Toradora_. If he had time after "dinner", he would have them for "dessert".

He gave a small chuckle at his little joke, it was fitting considering that they'd all be a part of him soon enough.

He strode across the floor towards the end of the stadium floor and eventually came upon an expressive enclosure emblazoned with the emblem of the Sarashiki family. There were various stands with monitors no doubt used to show the I.S.'s capabilities and small samples of the components that made it up. But at the very back was the I.S. itself.

"Ugh, you're kinda ugly. "Beautiful Masterpiece" my ass," he mocked, making his voice sound as nasally and irritating as the ISC chairwoman who spoke in a press release a few hours earlier.

Naruto found most I.S. quite ugly. To him they looked ungainly and misshapen, and sometimes utterly impractical for the purposes they were designed for.

This one was no different.

It was designed to look _reminiscent _of a shinobi or ninja of some kind with plates of interlocking gold and red armor. The armor was richly engraved at various points and seemed quite thick, utterly impractical considering the I.S.'s designated purpose.

The armor was too thick and too ungainly to properly use the machine's main weapon, a set of vicious four fingered claws, indicating a specialization in close-combat.

He looked at it for a minute before shrugging.

"_**Naruto! Get out of there, the I.S. are-!" **_his contact's voice suddenly blared in his ears.

The roof above him suddenly ruptured as three _Uchigane_ swooped down from the sky like a trio of eagles. Naruto turned and regarded them with an almost bored took a moment to examine them. All three of the pilots were young girls fresh from classes at the I.S. academy. Two of them looked uncertain and frightened, clearly unused to their task. The third, who seemed to be a few years older, looked more experienced and was giving him a look of derision and disdain.

He scowled; he wasn't a stranger to that look.

"Oh boy, I have been caught, whatever shall I do?" he deadpanned overdramatically, turning around fully to face the girls, not at all concerned by their I.S.

"**You there, step away from the I.S.!" **the leader, or who he assumed to be the leader, barked loudly through her microphone.

Naruto tilted his head to the side with an infuriating smirk on the visible half of his face.

"You guys are a bit late," he said nonchalantly, sticking his hands in his pockets. He made no effort to move away from the _Toradora._

"**I won't ask again, move away from the I.S. or we will use force!" **the leader commanded again, this time deploying her katana in order to wave it _menacingly _at him.

"You would use your I.S. against an unarmed _civilian_? I'm pretty certain that's against the Alaska Treaty, ladies," he goaded, intentionally sounding incredulous.

The girls all scowled at him and descended towards the ground not ten feet from him. They were slightly unnerved by the complete lack of fear or nervousness he was exhibiting.

"**We are authorized to use any force deemed necessary to protect the property exhibited here by the ISC and UN. We will give you one more chance, surrender and you won't be harmed," **one of the other two girls spoke softly, sounding much gentler and less aggressive than her leader.

Naruto didn't even bat an eyelash, "How about… no."

"**Very well then, take him! I want him alive!" **the squad leader instructed one of the girls.

The girl hesitated before she moved at him, skating along the ground to capture him as quickly and painlessly as possible. The blond removed his hands from his pockets and narrowed his eyes.

"Big mistake," he said, a disturbing grin growing on his face.

Without precedent, he lunged at the girl and leveled a right hook at her chest. The girl didn't even make an attempt to guard, fully expecting the attack to rebound off her shields harmlessly.

So it came as a complete shock to her when his fist smashed right through her shields and rammed into her chest like a freight train. Her I.S.'s absolute barrier immediately activated, shielding her from the horrible damage she would've normally sustained, but did nothing to stop the momentum from throwing her backwards.

"Not so fast!" he laughed merrily, his hand rocketing out and clamping down on her wrist, with his fingers digging into the thick armor like it was made of soft cheese.

He yanked the shocked girl back towards him and promptly launched another right hook at her, this time into her face and with far more raw power behind it.

Her shields, predictably, shattered uselessly under the force of his blow and caused the absolute barrier to activate once more. This time, the extra power he used was more than enough to force the absolute barrier to sap the remains of her meager shield energy.

The girl flew back with a scream and collided with a display booth, going through it, and slamming into the concrete wall. He watched with a grin as the I.S., pilot and all, crumpled to the ground and did not get up. He turned towards the two other I.S. and mentally cackled like a madman at their shocked and almost terrified expressions.

He rolled his neck, eliciting flinches from the remaining two pilots, and stuffed his hands back into his pockets. He glanced around and sighed overdramatically.

"Yare, yare… what a mess…" he muttered, looking at the damage he did to the exhibition floor with a bored expression. He didn't sound the least bit apologetic.

"**Wh-what are you?" **the squad leader stammered, still not believing what she just saw. This wasn't possible! She had just seen a human being take on an I.S. with his bare hands and win with no more than two hits!

"...Me? Oh, just the most **hardcore ass-kicker** to ever walk the planet, is all. The destroyer of everything! The mortal enemy of the U.S. government and the ISC! But hell, you can just call me Naruto."

Then he exploded, literally.

A veritable sea of writhing black tendrils tipped with razor sharp thorns and barbs erupted from Naruto's back in a spray of black fluid and dove backwards, piercing the polycarbonate case and ensnaring the I.S. within with ease.

The tendrils then proceeded to actually _rip _the prototype I.S. apart and drag the pieces back towards the unmoving Naruto's back. Then his flesh and clothes suddenly came alive with activity as a hideous, snarling mouth filled with black, razor-edged teeth emerged and began to devour the pieces.

The remaining two pilots could only watch in disgust and horror as the tendrils receded, only for them to consume the hooded man's arms in a twisting mass.

Naruto held up his arms and watched with an exited look on his face as his arms and his fingers elongated and sharpened.

"Oh, this is just _**fantastic**_…" he cackled like a madman, out loud this time. The power flooding through his artificial veins was nearly orgasmic!

His arms were now coated entirely in thick, organic-looking, plates of twisting, spiny black armor with bioluminescent green patches scattered randomly. In place of his hands were a set of absolutely _terrifying_ set of four-fingered silver claws nearly a foot long in length and glinting with a ridiculously sharp edge.

"I am gonna have so much _**fun**_with these…," he trailed off and slowly turned to look at the slightly green-faced duo, "Ok ladies… who wants to play with me?"

He was about to rush at them when he felt something coming up his throat. He paused and turned around; giving the petrified pilots a gesture to wait a second and promptly projectile vomited a glowing blue orb three inches into a concrete wall.

He turned back around, sticking his tongue out in distaste.

"Yeugh, nasty…," he muttered.

The three pilots managed to shake themselves out of their stupor and rushed at him from three directions, swords raised.

"Oh yeah, a threesome! Alright, come to daddy!" he goaded murderously.

"**Attack!" **the squad leader roared.

Naruto met them halfway.

He leapt high into the air and swung his claws downward like a great cat pouncing on its prey.

The _Uchigane_ was a flawed, but acceptable I.S. Not good, but not terrible either. The lack of features on the frame allowed nearly any girl, regardless of aptitude to pilot it. But this was a double edged sword. The mass-produced I.S. possessed ungainly armor and was best suited for defensive combat and had a relatively small amount of shield energy compared to others. It was a standard I.S. possessing nothing in great amounts and never suited to any one person. In fact, the only weapon that the _Uchigane _possessed as a default was a simple, carbon-titanium alloy katana.

And therein lays the problem.

Challenging Uzumaki Naruto to close-quarters-combat was, in most cases, _suicide._

Naruto laughed psychotically as he raked his claws across one his attacker's chest, instantly shredding her shields and forcing the absolute barrier into action. The girl, seeing her shield points dropping rapidly, retreated with a quick burst of acceleration from her boosters.

She circled around him and tried to catch him off guard with a sneak attack while he was preoccupied with slashing at her partner.

Naruto predicted the attack and spun around, his left foot catching his would-be attacker in the gut and sending her flying, minus a good amount of her remaining shields. The blond seamlessly twisted back around and slashed at his remaining opponent, who was barely able to dodge.

Hadn't they realized it by now?

Every time they attacked him, he was _always_ ready, always ready for a devastating counterattack. He had no blind spots! His hyper-sensitive senses alerted him to air pressure changes and sounds faster than any human could ever fathom. This made him nearly impossible to hit.

He scowled slightly. While this was quite fun, there was no doubt in his mind that they had called for reinforcements.

And this time, he knew they wouldn't be schoolgirls assigned guard duty.

Hearing the singing chime of two swords screaming down towards his head, his claws suddenly snapped up and locked the two blades in a vicegrip. He raised his head at the shocked and terrified girls who thought he would fall for an aerial attack and stared at them coldly.

"Tch, useless…"

His body seemed to ripple once more as a seething mass of tendrils exploded from his chest and wrapped around the two I.S. and, much to the horror of their pilots, began _pulling. _It was only when the thick armor that protected their vital areas began to give, that the I.S.'s seldom-used failsafe activated.

"**WARNING WARNING ABSOLUTE BARRIER FAILURE, EJECTION SEQUENCE INITIATED" **the two _Uchigane_ intoned mechanically and suddenly their pilots found themselves flying through the air and crashing painfully into one of the nearby booths that survived the battle. They lost consciousness instantly, the sound of Naruto's bone-chilling laughter echoing in their ears.

Naruto then directed his tendrils at the first _Uchigane _that he disable and wrenched the machine off its unconscious pilot, who was ejected at the last second.

The tendrils brutally ripped the _Uchigane _apart, and dragged the parts into his body. He grinned slightly; this had gone better than he planned. He had consumed not only one personal-spec I.S. prototype, but three others. His anonymity had been sacrificed, but the spoils outweighed that by a clear margin. Besides, taking care of those girls could be put off until he was done consuming the expo.

The blond grimaced as he suddenly felt that particular feeling again and, once more, coughed up three glowing spheres. He glared at them, recognizing them as the famous I.S. cores that breathed life into the machines. He carelessly kicked them away and turned his attention back to the matter at hand.

He was still in a stadium filled with expensive, sophisticated I.S. technology.

Naruto grinned like a kid in a candy store as his tendrils lanced out and consumed a set powerful beam rifles, a railgun, a set of prototype I.S. thrusters, and was about to devour some particularly impressive missiles when his contact's voice buzzed through his head.

"_**Naruto, can you hear me?" **_his contact called out, _**"You need to get out of there, the guards have called for reinforcements. There are five more I.S. inbound towards your position, and these are confirmed as I.S. academy instructors. You NEED to get out!"**_

"Oy, I have three I.S. pilots who know who I am and what I can do; I need to take care of 'em."

"_**Shit, Naruto, you're not getting this. I know you think you can take them, but what happens if you can't?"**_

Naruto stilled at the thought.

"_**You'll be captured and experimented on! And all we've worked for will be for nothing!"**_

Naruto scowled darkly, his claws clenching tightly. If he had to sacrifice his obscurity to avoid any chance at capture, then so be it.

"Whatever," he grunted.

He twisted around, burst out of the hole made by the three pilots and glided away, just in time to avoid the 5-woman squad of instructors as they landed in exhibition area.

A busty green-haired woman with large green eyes hidden behind a set of circular glasses and piloting a French Raphael Revive II looked around and winced at the damages.

"Chifuyu-sensei isn't going to be happy about this…" she whispered softly.

"Yamada-sensei!" one of her squadmates yelled out.

She floated over to her and found herself looking at three I.S. cores strewn carelessly across the ground, as well as one somehow embedded in a wall. She reached down and picked one up. She looked around worriedly.

"Misaya-sensei, get Chifuyu-sensei on the phone and tell her we have three _Uchigane _missing in action as well as…," she trailed off with a wince, "tell her the _Toradora_ is also missing."

"Yes, Yamada-sensei!"

She took one last look at the devastation before flying out and instructing the JSDF to seal off the area.

_"Chifuyu-sensei will be angry at this, and when she is angry…"_

*******The*Monster*You*Made*******

_"…heads will roll."_

To say that Chifuyu Orimura was angry was an understatement.

She barged into the briefing room at the academy, eyes bloodshot, bedhead, and messily-donned suit. She had an expression of utter fury on her beautiful face, with her red eyes glowing like hot coals.

"What the hell is going on here?"

The instructors in the room cowered away from her and hesitantly handed her the report.

Chifuyu snatched the paper from the woman's hand and scanned it over, her eyes widening slightly before narrowing again.

"Let me get this straight, three school I.S. are missing in addition to the prototype I.S. that the Sarashikis were planning to unveil?" she asked, incredulous.

Maya nodded and handed the woman a list of all the items missing, "A huge amount of state-of-the-art prototype equipment and weaponry was also stolen."

The list was… extensive, to say the least.

She stared at the list and narrowed her eyes in thought. How had someone managed to somehow defeat three of her students, steal their _Uchigane _and the _Toradora_, and make-off with a huge amount of weapons weighing in at more than a ton on average without being spotted? The evidence didn't add up.

She looked back up at Maya, "Is there anything else I should be aware of?"

The younger woman shifted uneasily and bit her lip, before gesturing towards the wall, which lit up with four pictures of glowing blue orbs.

"Cores?" the brunette asked quizzically.

"Yes, four I.S. cores assigned to the missing machines were found. There is no sign of their I.S. and it seems like the cores were somehow extracted and simply tossed away like garbage. One of them was even found embedded three inches in a concrete wall," Maya explained.

Chifuyu stared at her, clearly not believing what she was hearing.

The core of the Infinite Stratos was one of the most wanted pieces of technology in existence. They were the heart that gave the I.S. life, without one, the machine was utterly useless. With only 467 cores in existence and Tabane Shinonono unwilling to make any more, the cores were priceless. It made no sense, why would someone take the I.S. and leave the cores?

"There's also these," the pictures of the core were replaced with images of ragged slash marks gouged into the concrete. They came in groups of four and seemed spread in a similar fashion to human fingers.

"What exactly am I looking at, Maya?" She asked, her eyes not leaving the screen.

"I'm not sure either… there were quite of few of these marks carved all over the area. I'm beginning to think that this was another I.S., judging by the force needed to carve these into reinforced concrete. But it doesn't go match with the reports in collected from the girls."

"What do you mean "doesn't match"? What else could it be?" Chifuyu asked sharply.

"The girls say that it was a single male who did this," the green-haired women spoke.

"Bullshit," the brunette stated bluntly.

Maya nodded in agreement, "It gets weirder. The girls say that the suspect wasn't human. They say he went toe-to-toe with Izumi-chan's I.S. with nothing but his bare hands."

Chifuyu frowned. That certainly wasn't what she was expecting. When Maya had said that "it was a single male who did this", she hypothesized that this male was like her brother and was capable of I.S. synchronization and combat.

"And then… they insist that he _ate_ their _Uchigane _as well as the _Toradora_ with some weird tentacles and then grew _claws._"

"Claws," Chifuyu deadpanned, massaging her temples.

"Yes."

Chifuyu's frown deepened at the incredulous story that seemed to get weirder by the minute.

"So let me get this straight, the expo was destroyed by a humanoid male who could _eat _I.S., possesses inhuman physical capabilities, and has _claws_. He hacked a flawless system, stole huge amounts of technology and equipment, and somehow got out undetected. Is that all, Maya?"

Maya nodded, pushing up her glasses.

"Do we even have a description of this man?" the beautiful brunette sighed, rubbing her eyes exhaustedly.

"We do. We managed to get a fairly detailed description out of them, but it's not perfect."

"Naturally."

Maya nodded and gestured to the board, which was suddenly dominated by a semi-detailed sketch of a male figure clad in dark jeans, sneakers, a hoodie, and a leather jacket. Hi hood was up, so the top half of his face was hidden. The lower half of his face was dominated by a murderous smirk. His hands were stuffed in his pockets and his posture was slouched. But the most recognizable feature was the glowing circular orbs that gleamed in place of eyes under his hood.

Chifuyu stilled, her eyes taking in every feature of the sketch.

She glanced at her colleague, "Maya, do a search for Uzumaki Naruto and bring up the first picture you find."

The green haired woman nodded and did as instructed.

The sketch was pushed off to the side as a familiar blurry photograph from the U.S. Government's Most Wanted Terrorist List appeared. Despite the lack of detail, the figure caught in the photo was nearly identical to the sketch.

"So it is Uzumaki Naruto, huh?" Chifuyu muttered.

"You know this man, Chifuyu-sensei?" Maya asked tentatively.

"Yes, he's rather well known in the states for various offenses. He's the one who nearly brought Hiraishin Indistries to its knees through hacking and the theft of their most recent I.S. Stealing confidential military intel, destruction of military property, and murder are just a few of the crimes he's been charged with. The problem is that he's outwitted the Americans at every turn, so he's never been captured and information him is hard to come by," Chifuyu explained, taking a long sip of coffee to keep herself up.

Maya looked a little nonplussed by this new development, "So what does this mean for us?"

Chifuyu scowled slightly, "If Uzumaki's within our borders, it could mean a lot of trouble in the near future. He wouldn't come here without a good reason, so he must be looking for something. Maya, I want this entire island on high alert. I don't want a single rat getting in without me knowing about it, understand?"

Maya nodded resolutely, "Right away, Chifuyu-sensei!"

As Chifuyu watched her go, she began to ponder the mystery that hung around Uzumaki Naruto. He was an enigma, even to her sharp mind. Information on him was so scarce that he may as well never have existed in the first place. Dealing with him wouldn't be easy. He was crafty and had the obscurity of his existence on his side, but he wasn't infallible. The circumstances regarding the attack on her students indicated to her that his whole heist was initially supposed to be a secret, but he ended up blowing his cover due to carelessness.

She glared at the picture for a moment before muttering, "What kind of game are you playing, Uzumaki?"

She stood up with a sigh and stretched out her tense muscles, ignoring the furious blushes that coated her coworkers' faces. She picked up the reports and was about to go home and get some much needed sleep when Maya reappeared in the door way with a nervous expression on her face.

"What is it now, Maya?" she drawled, almost dreading the answer.

"Umm, Chairwoman Tatsuki wants to talk to you…"

Chifuyu stared, a deadened expression on her face.

_Fuck._

*******The*Monster*You*Made*******

Hours after the heist of the I.S. Expo, every news network in the world was buzzing with information. The ISC chairwoman, Haruno Tatsuki, was barely managing to hold her legendary temper in check and loftily claimed that the madman who did this, publically identified as Uzumaki Naruto, would be captured and would pay for his crimes. According to authorities, the amount of equipment stolen totaled more than the GDP of most countries.

A slender, pale hand slowly reached up and flicked the TV off, plunging the expansive bedroom into darkness. The hand waved again and the lights flickered on, revealing the owner of the hand to be a beautiful woman with thigh-length red hair and cool blue eyes.

"So you've finally revealed yourself, Uzumaki Naruto?" the woman muttered, hate gleaming in her eyes.

She stood up, smoothing out the luxurious fabric of her white sundress, and crossing the room and into the hall. From there, she ascended a set of narrow stairs into another hall, only stopping at a door plastered with pictures of I.S. Without a word or a knock, she opened the door and stepped in.

She looked around with a slight wince at the overabundance of the color orange.

She looked at the bed and sighed slightly when she saw a young girl of about 15 with long red hair giggling perversely at one of those doujins featuring "big-brother love".

"Hitomi," she said sharply.

The girl, Hitomi, immediately jolted and quickly stuffs her doujin under her comforter and turned to face the woman with a sheepish look on her face.

"Erm, you need something, kaa-san?" the girl said with a nervous laugh.

Namikaze Kushina stared down at her daughter and crossed her arms over her amble chest, "Pack your bags, we're going to Japan."

Hitomi blinked at her confusedly, "But I don't start the academy until later on…"

"It's not about the academy, Uzumaki Naruto has appeared in Japan," she replied calmly, though anger was burning in her eyes.

The girl's identical blue eyes widened in shock, before they narrowed and a scowl curled across her lips. She wordlessly stood up with her long hair shadowing her eyes, her fists clenched so tight that blood was beginning to drip from them to the floor.

"When do we leave?" Hitomi asked quietly.

"As soon as we're done packing." Kushina said as she turned around and walked away, leaving Hitomi alone.

Hitomi stood there silently for a moment before she reached under her shirt and retrieved a beautiful necklace bearing the image of a swirling whirlpool in brilliant orange metal.

"You'd better be ready Uzumaki Naruto, 'cause _Uzuhime _and I are coming for you…"

*******The*Monster*You*Made*******

Gotanda Dan was a troubled young man.

He sighed as he reminisced how he got involved in a potentially world-shaking, not to mention illegal, event.

He and Naruto were buddies back when he was in middle school. One day they met up after Naruto ran away from home, at least that was the cover story. Dan could always spot when Naruto tried to lie, granted he did get better over the years.

After everything was revealed, Naruto pleaded with him to not get anymore involved than he already was.

As with a legacy of misspent youth, he had declined in the most dramatic way possible.

"That asshole better be doing okay…"

"This asshole is doing just fine, thanks for your concern, douchebag."

Dan's eyes widened in surprise before turning to face the current source of all his problems, and purpose in life.

Naruto just grinned like the cocky bastard he was. He was not wearing his usual outfit, given the shitstorm brewing outside. But even in a simple red t-shirt, black hoodie, and dark jeans, his stark blonde hair and sharp features were unmistakable.

"Heh, things never change, do you?"

"Referring to me as a thing? I am deeply wounded by your admission!" Naruto faked a heart attack in jest.

Dan just sighed, right before hiding his grin behind a cup of coffee.

Naruto noticed the change in demeanor and put up his guard discretely, his eyes darting about warily.

Before he could react, a young girl with long dark brown hair tied into a single ponytail burst into the small, out-of-the-way diner.

"!"

Everyone in the diner, that is to say, the girl, Naruto, Dan, and the single manager of the diner went silent.

Naruto spoke before he could really think.

"Houki?" Naruto spoke, his eyes widening.

The girl in question was Shinonono Houki, the younger sister of Shinonono Tabane. She and Naruto shared a long and complex history.

Dan's younger sister Ran had been close friends with Houki before the unveiling of the I.S. Houki had told Ran where she could be located at, not wanting to be fully alone and distanced when her family had to be moved to protect Tabane's research.

Dan, seeing an opportunity in a rebellious younger sister of the creator of the single most advanced piece of technology on earth to date, had encouraged his sister to stay friends as long as possible, not knowing when it could be useful.

When the entire incident with Naruto occurred, Dan told him about Houki and her relocation to an isolated part of Japan and her studies there.

Naruto, in an attempt to gather information on the I.S. as well as get a form of revenge on the one person who made his recent life hell, applied for teaching a biology class in the school where Houki was studying.

The government couldn't turn down the young prodigy's stellar scores and résumé without drawing attention.

Bit by bit, Naruto and Houki grew closer. Houki thought her one chance at loving her childhood friend, Ichika, was gone now that she couldn't keep her promise. Naruto grew up completely estranged from his own family. So in a way, they were birds of a feather.

And you know what they say…

Houki started seeing Naruto less as a teacher and more as a close friend. Naruto, still possessing a good amount of his old habits, couldn't bear to continue on with his self-imposed mission. The girl had wormed her way into the walls of his blackened heart and had become one of his very few loved ones.

In a vain attempt of compromise, he abruptly cut off all ties with Houki, hoping his sudden disappearance wouldn't hurt her anymore than the sole purpose of using her to gather information on her sister would.

After all, she did blame her sister for making the I.S. and not letting her stay with Ichika.

"N-Naruto-sensei?" the girl whispered.

And after some years later, they met in an old, rundown diner.

Dan nodded his head in approval. His attempt for his friend to lighten up his friend's perspective on life was working brilliantly!

*******The*Monster*You*Made*******

**Kurobikari- Black Luster or Black Light**

**Uzuhime- Whirlpool Princess**

**Akaishiki- Red Death**

**Alright, CH-2 is done!**

**This one is my longest chapter of both of my stories, so it wore me out a bit. As for why I got this out so quickly, I've been in the mood for Infinite Stratos and Prototype, so that has kindled the spark of my inspiration into a roaring flame of passion! Don't expect them to come out as quickly as this one, or you'll just be disappointed. **

**Now as for the Käampfer of Pain… I'm not sure. Consider it on hiatus until I can find a new source of inspiration. Cuz, the Käampfer anime sure as hell ain't gonna do it. Fate/Zero might, but again, it's not as relevant to the story. Only a few small pieces of the fic focus on the Nasuverse.**

**Now I feel as though I should explain some things before you all butcher me with questions.**

**#1) Naruto's "Bi-Polar" Psychosis- This will probably get me the most questions. Naruto was **_**loosely **_**styled after Hollow Ichigo in the sense that he's a complete madman on the battlefield but calmer and less… **_**stabby**_** off of it. He's a bit bi-polar. He's still similar to the canon, fiercely protective of his few loved ones, but has a mouth like a sailor.**

**#2) "You're god-modding him!"- No, I'm most certainly not. Naruto faced off with high-school girls who were assigned to guard a stadium that no one in the right mind would attack. He is quite strong, but can still be beaten. You will see this in later chapter.**

**#3) My views on the setting- The way I portray the world in this fic is purely based on what I gleaned off the light novel as well as some of the attitudes of some of the characters. If you read the light novels, you will get the idea. Perhaps the light novels aren't as radical as my fic, but a more dystopic world makes for a good show, no?**

**#4) Pairings- Don't ask. All will be made clear in time.**

**#5) Security around the stadium seems... light- This is semi-true. one would expect the whole 100-yards in security for an international weapons expo. But realize that there were three I.S. patrolling the area. That's a bigger deterrent to any would-be terrorist than an army. Just look at the "White Knight Incident" and you'll see why.**

**Now you know the drill, no flames and leave a detailed review if you would. The fact that you're looking forward to my next update doesn't help me make the story better. I AM still a beginner in writing world.**

**Oh and to clarify, there will be NO incest.**

**A big thank you to my BETA and cohort ShadowAce117, thanks again!**

**Signing off,**

**Imperium Rhomania**


	3. The Revolution will NOT be Televised

**Yo! I'm back, motherfuckas! Sort of…**

**Well, the encroaching horror that is college is drawing ever closer and with it comes an unfortunately increasing increment between updates. I'll try to keep up with updates as quickly as I can, but you know how that goes.**

**Anyways, about this chapter.**

**This one is a bit longer than usual on the account that I've been keeping you all waiting longer than usual for an update. This chapter was a pain in the ass to write in more ways than one. Writing an emotional reunion between Houki and Naruto is not one of my strong suits. That's compounded by the intricacies of Naruto's… unique personality.**

**Not fun.**

**I apologize in advance if this seems sappy or strained, but again, this was not easy to write.**

**There will be more action to follow, however. Just be patient.**

**As usual, reviews more than one sentence are greatly appreciated and flames… well, you can write 'em if you feel the need. It'll give me pretty good laugh.**

**A thanks in advance to my BETA, ShadowAce117**

**Enjoy.**

*******The*Monster*You*Made*******

Houki Shinonono breathed heavily as she sprinted from her house towards the only other diner besides the Gotanda Eatery in the small, nondescript town she was currently living in. She had, just a few moments ago, gotten a call from Gotanda Dan, the brother of Gotanda Ran, one of her few friends, that her beloved sensei was back in Japan after all this time.

At first, she didn't believe it. Why would he come back to such a backwater town like this? She would never vocalize it to anyone, but deep down she never stopped hoping that he would coming back to visit her. He never did, but that never stopped her.

She originally intended to ignore Dan's call, believing it to be one of the redhead's "charming" pranks, and go about her day as normal, but she was unable to stop herself from ignoring the remote chance that he was back. And the next thing she knew, she was out the door and sprinting downtown.

Namikaze Naruto had left her alone years ago without even saying goodbye. It hurt her more than moving away from Ichika did for some reason she didn't understand. The blond teacher had been her best friend, her confidante, and mentor despite his young age. He was the only one, save for Ichika, Ran and her brother, that didn't give a damn about the fact that she was the sister of the famed creator of the I.S., Shinonono Tabane.

She felt a scowl slip over her lips at the thought of her illustrious older sibling. In her rush to make the I.S. known the world over as the most influential invention in the history of humankind, Tabane had inadvertently ruined her life. Within months of the machine's debut, the Japanese government had swooped in and placed her entire family under the witness protection program and forced them to move to a secluded location to protect Tabane and her knowledge. She was forced to quit the kendo competition that she had been training months on end for and was forced to move away from her crush, Orimura Ichika. Her family repeated this movement every few years as per the government regulations. From that day onward, Houki hated her sister.

After she moved and enrolled into a completely new school and moved into a new house for what was probably the fourth time, a mysterious new teacher arrived to instruct her biology class. He was young, very young, only being 17 compared to her 13. She was skeptical at first that such a young man was qualified to teach her class, but found that her skepticism was ill-placed. His name was Namikaze Naruto, a recent valedictorian of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a fervent denier of any relation to Hirashin Industries's chairman, Namikaze Minato.

Within a few months of his arrival, Naruto had proven his worth and then some. He was intelligent to the point that she was 100% certain that he could give Tabane a run for her money in particular areas. But that wasn't what solidified her admiration for him.

It was because he was, in essence, just like her. He held a blatant hatred of the I.S. and everything pertaining to it, her sister included. When he looked at her, he didn't see the sister of the creator of the I.S., he saw her as she was, a young girl yearning for companionship. She would not openly say it, but Naruto was her saving grace ever since she was forced to leave Ichika.

They were kindred spirits. She and Naruto were both people who harbored an intense dislike for certain members of their family for one reason or another. They both strived to find their place in the world.

It was for these reasons that, in the short time that he taught at her school, he had become her best friend.

And just when she had found someone who cared for her, he left suddenly without a goodbye. One day, he just up and vanished. She had asked around almost constantly for a week after he left, but found nothing. Not even the seemingly all-seeing eyes of Dan saw anything.

And as quick as Naruto vanished, she retreated back into her iron-clad shell, swearing that she'd never get that close to anyone ever again.

And yet, here she was, running like her life depended on it just to see if he was actually here. She smiled slightly, even after that, he was still her friend, and that was all that mattered to her.

She made her way towards the diner and paused at the door, her hand hovering over the handle. She hesitated for only a moment before taking a deep breath and bursting through the door.

The diner went quiet as its occupants' eyes swiveled to look at her.

She looked around slowly and gasped softly when she locked eyes with twin pools of unmistakably beautiful emerald.

She stared at them, and at their blond haired owner in shock. She felt weak. He was here, he was actually back! She couldn't believe it, but there he was, looking the same as he did two years ago.

"Houki?" he asked, surprise clear in his voice.

She looked at him, feeling tears involuntarily brimming in her eyes.

"N-Naruto-sensei?" she whispered softly.

*****The*Monster*You*Made*****

"Fuck, this definitely wasn't part of the plan," Naruto cursed softly, all traces of his usual rowdiness gone from his voice, as he stared at the young woman who was looking like she was going to burst into tears any second.

Silently appraising her, he found that the perpetually-scowling girl that he taught had grown into a truly beautiful young lady. Her hair, still in its signature high-ponytail, was much longer and ended just shy of her thighs. She was taller, with her head being level with his chest. Her flawless skin was still the same soft lily-white he remembered, providing an enticing contrast with her wide sapphire eyes. She was dressed simply in a white blouse, blue jacket, and blue knee-length skirt.

The clothing was stylish and tasteful, but was unable to hide the well-developed figure beneath.

"_"__Damn," __he thought with a wince,__ "She's somehow more beautiful than before…"_

Tearing his suddenly hungry eyes away from her, he glanced back at Dan and his eyes narrowed at the smirk the redhead was trying to hide in his coffee. He knew what the younger boy was trying to do. It was no secret that his hatred for the current state of the world was nearly all-consuming in its intensity. Dan was trying to save him from drowning in it and becoming a monster. It was an admirable, but foolish, gesture.

He turned back to Houki and found her trying to glare at him, but failing miserably as tears began to stream down her cheeks. He winced slightly, seeing her like this was disconcerting, to say the least. Houki was not known for exposing her feelings very openly, often opting to hide herself away in a scowling, abrasive, short-tempered shell to mask the vulnerable feelings beneath.

Not that he could talk. He himself was calmer and kinder to the scant few that he considered his friends, but in the presence of his enemies, he became a hateful, bloodthirsty monster.

"It's… been a long time… Houki," he said quietly, not really sure what else to say in this situation.

The dark haired girl uttered a choked cry and launched herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, as if she was afraid he would disappear. She buried her face in his shirt and cried her eyes out.

Naruto exhaled heavily and tentatively wrapped his own arms around the girl's smaller form, resting his chin on her head and running his fingers through her long, silky hair. He noted idly that she smelled strongly of vanilla and oak, both very earthy smells. He turned his eyes toward the smug looking Dan and glared at him.

"We'll talk about this later, asswipe," he hissed.

Dan merely chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck.

Naruto returned his attention to the girl in his arms and found that she had stopped crying. She rubbed her eyes with her sleeve and looked up at him with a betrayed look on her face that made even his blackened heart clench. As much of a homicidal madman as he was, Houki was one of the few people on earth that he cared deeply about and seeing that look in her eyes bothered him greatly.

"You alright?" he asked.

Houki glared weakly at him, looking like she would start crying again.

"You bastard, you complete and utter bastard…," she whispered so quietly that normal human ears wouldn't have been able to hear her. But he heard her loud and clear.

"I know…," he muttered, looking away from her.

"Why… why did you leave? You didn't even say goodbye…," she demanded softly, grabbing handfuls of his tear-stained shirt. He gently grabbed her hands and untangled them from his shirt before hesitantly guiding her to their booth and sitting down. It was as if Naruto was doing something like this for the first time. She sat as close to him as possible and was looking down at her fists, which were gripping her skirt tightly.

Dan looked at him, the unspoken question asked: _"Do you want me to leave you guys alone?"_

Naruto looked down at Houki and nodded. Dan nodded in understanding, stood up, paid for his coffee, and made his way out the door.

He glanced at Naruto again, "I'll see you later."

"Got it," Naruto said calmly.

"Right," Dan vanished through the doorway.

"Answer me…" Houki demanded hoarsely.

"I'm sorry, Houki…, I didn't want you to get hurt," he muttered vaguely, revealing nothing.

Houki looked up at him with her red rimmed eyes pryingly, "What?"

Naruto sighed lowly, _"Dammit, as much as I want you to stay away from me, I can't bring myself to lie to you again."_

"I wanted to stay, Houki, I really did, but I couldn't live with myself if I did," he began, looking up at the ceiling wistfully.

"What do you mean?" she probed, getting back some of her nerve.

He looked at her, his eyes uncharacteristically regretful, "When I came to your school two years ago, it wasn't a coincidence. I had heard that the sister of Shinonono Tabane was attending and I decided to apply there for a chance to get some information on her by getting close to you."

Houki stiffened, her eyes going wide.

"You just used me…?" she whispered in confusion and betrayal.

"But…," he continued, "As time passed, you became more than a tool. You became an irreplaceable friend to me, something that only two other people on this earth have the right to say. You were just like me... You hated the world, despised your sister the way I hated my entire family and wanted to find your own place in this world… I realized then, that I had fucked up."

Houki said nothing. She just sat silently with her hair still shadowing her eyes. She was shaking and her hands were clenched tightly in her lap.

"I couldn't stand the thought of hurting you, so I left, hoping that you'd forget me and move on…"

"You…" she breathed with a foreign emotion thick in her tone.

He stood up with a shaky sigh, "I understand if you hate me and never want to see me again. But I can only hope that you find it in your heart to forgive me for my fuckup."

Houki said nothing, her eyes till shadowed by her hair. A few tears slipped down her fair cheeks and her hands unclenched.

Naruto looked up at the ceiling with a sigh and began walking away, only to stop when he felt something grip his arm tightly. He looked down and found that Houki's hand had shot out and was holding his wrist in a vicegrip.

"You're such an asshole," she reprimanded quietly.

She looked up at him with a watery smile and bright eyes.

"I want to hate you for what you did, but I can't, I could never hate you… Naruto-sensei," she said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

Naruto's shoulders slouched and he released a breath he hadn't know he'd been holding. It felt like a great burden had been lifted off his shoulders. He couldn't help but grin at her, regaining the usual confidence he usually displayed.

"I'm glad. Even though I don't deserve it, I'm glad," he admitted sheepishly.

She lightly hit his arm and stood up, pointing at him imposingly. She had a bright smile on her lips and her eyes were glowing with delight.

"Don't think you're off the hook just yet, Naruto-sensei. You owe me a spar for what you put me through," she commanded playfully.

Naruto's grin reappeared full-force, which was all the answer she needed.

*******The*Monster*You*Made*******

"Haah!" a fully-armored Houki cried as she brought her _bokken_ down on her unarmored sensei's head.

Naruto responded by simply raising his own _bokken_, which was more akin to a European broadsword than a katana, and stopping her attack with ease. He stepped forward and roughly pushed her back with an overhead swing, which she barely managed to sidestep.

She countered with a quick thrust as he swung his sword upwards, forcing him to jump back. The two stared at each other calculatingly, scanning each other's stances for flaws.

Houki was using her traditional kendo stance and was light on her feet, executing quick slices and stabs to force him into using his larger sword to block and give up an opening. He was using a more European stance, hence his broadsword _bokken_, which favored slower, but more powerful strikes intended to deal damage even if the they were blocked.

He preferred using two swords, in actuality, using a style similar to a certain white-haired servant from a certain anime. But that didn't mean he wasn't able to dominate using a single blade.

Naruto lunged at her with nearly inhuman speed and caught her off guard with a ridiculously fast stab. Her eyes widened, _"Fast!"_

She batted the strike away and stepped forward, grinding her _bokken_ along the length of his blade and attempting to smash the pommel into his chest.

"C'mon, Houki, you're gonna have to do better than that!"

Naruto laughed loudly and back flipped across the dojo floor, using his momentum to launch himself forward with a horizontal slice. Her eyes widened and she was forced to raise her _bokken_ and block it, unable to dodge.

The larger blade made contact and Houki felt her whole body go numb from the force of the strike. Naruto pressed forward, taking advantage of her stunned state and pressed the blunted edge of the sword against her throat.

"Dead," he announced with a grin.

Houki dropped her sword and sighed. She removed her helmet and shook out her long, luxurious hair. She looked at him with adoration.

"You've gotten even stronger after all this time," she panted, awed.

She had known from her past spars with him that he possessed a nearly inhuman amount of strength and speed with comparable reaction time. But for some reason she couldn't fathom, it almost felt like he was restraining himself, holding his real strength and speed back.

She shook her head, _"Nonsense, there's no way he could be EVEN stronger than this."_

Behind them, the door opened and a woman dressed in a violet kimono entered with a smile and carrying a tray with tea. She had shoulder-length dark brown hair with amber tinted brown eyes and had the same beautiful features as Houki did.

Houki turned towards her and took one of the cups gratefully, "Thank you, kaa-san."

Naruto took the other with a saucy wink, "Thanks, Shinonono-san, you're looking as lovely as ever."

"Naruto-sensei!" Houki shouted, scandalized.

Shinanono Yukiko, mother of Houki and Tabane, giggled at the two's antics, "Thank you, Naruto-san. You two have fun."

She bowed slightly and left the room.

Houki glared at him exasperatedly, "Must you hit on my mom every time you come here?"

Naruto adopted a mock thinking pose, "Hmm, yep, I definitely must."

Houki sighed; he really hadn't changed a bit.

She gazed at him softly with a fond look in her eyes, feeling a smile tugging at her lips.

"_Kami-sama, I've missed this," _the girl thought wistfully as she sipped her tea.

"So~… you still got that crush on Orimura?" he asked casually, taking a big drink of his tea, completely ignoring the temperature.

Houki spat out her tea and began spluttering in denial, "N-no, absolutely not!"

"Oh? You don't?" he asked teasingly.

Houki wiped her mouth of excess tea and shook her head rapidly, "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Whatever you say, Houki," he trailed off suggestively. She was so fun to tease.

"Just… stop asking about it, OK?" she growled at him.

"Hmm, whatever. So what else is new with you?"

Houki waved her hand dismissively, "Nothing of importance, just working around the shrine and getting ready for _school,_" she said, saying the word school like one would say 'cockroach' or 'vomit'.

Naruto frowned slightly, "You don't sound too thrilled 'bout going back to school, you wanna talk about it?"

She shook her head, her ponytail swaying hypnotically with the sudden movement.

"Not particularly, it's not something I really like talking about," she muttered in a sour tone, causing his frown to grow.

"_Alright, now I REALLY wanna know."_

"Houki," she looked at him with those hypnotic azure eyes, "you can tell me if something's bothering you, you know that, right?"

She stared at him gratefully and slowly nodded, "Alright, but promise me you won't tell anyone."

Naruto snorted, "Don't worry; I won't say a damn thing."

"Watch you language, Naruto-sensei," she said, giggling at the sour look on his face.

"Yes, _kaa-san_," he drawled sarcastically, he really hated being censored.

"Do you want to hear it or what?" she asked, with a mock glare.

"Just tell me already," he whined.

She sighed tiredly and set her empty cup down, suddenly looking forlorn and exhausted. It immediately set off alarms in his head.

"_The fuck is this?" _Naruto thought with narrowed eyes. He was beginning to suspect that something big had gone down in his absence.

"It happened like this," she began, "I had declined the application for the I.S. aptitude test and was going to register for the local high school when my parents and I were called down to Tokyo to meet with _her,"_ she spat hatefully.

"Who's _her_?" he asked calmly, though there was a copious amount of bloodlust in his tone. No one messed with his friends and got away with it. He might have to start stalking his prey once more.

"Haruno Tatsuki, the chairwoman of the ISC, she flat-out told me that it simply wasn't possible for the sister of the GREAT Shinonono Tabane to NOT go to the I.S. Academy. I'm being forced to go against my will, nothing my parents or I say is of any consequence to them," she ground out furiously.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her sensei's face run through a myriad of indiscernible emotions before it became completely blank, devoid of any feeling. She shuddered. Such an expression was terribly out of place on the face of an outspoken and loud person such as Naruto.

And it was precisely that reason that it terrified her.

It didn't take someone who knew him as well as herself to see the veritable sea of seething fury burning beneath his emerald orbs. He said nothing, but he didn't need to. His eyes told the whole story. She had never, ever seen him angry, let alone truly enraged as he was right now.

"_That's it… that's the fucking last straw! I've had enough of that bitch, her fucking friends, and the fucking gilded pedestal they're sittin' on! I'll destroy them… No, I'll make them suffer and then I'll put them down like the bitches they are! But how to do it… Decisions, decisions…," _he fumed darkly. He was unaware of the fact that Houki had slowly begun to scoot away from him, a fearful expression on her face.

The dark-haired girl watched in shock and fear as her sensei's face seemed to change before her eyes. The blank, emotionless façade that had previously occupied the young man's face vanished.

The whisker-like stripes that lined his cheeks seemed to darken and become more ragged looking, almost like veins crawling across his sickly pale skin. His lips slowly curled upwards in a twisted grin, revealing a set of teeth that would've looked more at home in the jaws of a shark than those of a human. And the beautiful emerald irises she had often caught herself getting lost in had begun to glow a venomous acid-green against the sickly grey rings surrounding his eyes.

Such a look of darkness and murderous intent on his face scared her. She had been no stranger to his wild and playful grins before, but this one was different.

This one… this one reeked of anger and bloodlust.

"N-Naruto-sensei…?" she whimpered softly, just loud enough to be heard.

Naruto's eyes immediately sought her out and he froze at the state she was in. His grin and demonic looking features reverted back to normal as quickly as they came. He looked away, feeling somewhat ashamed of himself. Despite the bloodlust and complete disregard for human life and property he displayed on the battlefield, he prided himself on excellent control over his unbalanced psyche. It was only under conditions yielding high emotional stress did glimmers of those aspects of that part of his personality show themselves.

"Shit, you weren't supposed to see that," he said with a defeated sigh.

"Naruto-sensei…," Houki's look of fear was replaced with one of concern. She had never seen him like this.

"Just… forget it. I'm sorry I lost control of my emotions like that. That normally doesn't happen," he grunted.

"It's alright, I'm still pretty angry about it too," she admitted with a small smile in his direction.

Well, she said that, but she was still rattled at the change in appearance her sensei just exhibited. The, admittedly, cute markings across his cheeks had become more defined and ragged, something that wasn't natural in any sense of the word. His eyes were, if her own eyes were to be believed, actually seemed to glow.

"_Sensei…," _she thought worriedly, _"What are you hiding from me? Don't you trust me?"_

She decided not to pry, against her better judgment.

Naruto nodded, "Right, so you said that nothing you or your parents did was any good?"

"Yes, we attempted to contact the UN themselves, but we were denied almost instantly. They told us the exact same thing the ISC told us. It is simply IMPOSSIBLE to have the sister of Shinonono Tabane not attend," she muttered bitterly.

Naruto cackled slightly, oh the irony!

"Hahaha! The UN disobeying their own rules? That's fuckin' ridiculous!"

The brunette gave him a wry smile, "I'm glad you find this funny, Naruto-sensei."

He grinned at her widely, "Hehe, happy to be of service, Houki-hime."

Houki's felt heat rise unbidden to her cheeks and she turned away, hiding the soft blush dusting across her face. She shifted uneasily, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable.

"… _Houki-hime?" _she thought. For some reason, the way he said her name made her feel funny, almost lightheaded, only much more pleasant. It was odd, not even being alone with Ichika years ago had made her feel like this.

"Oy, you alright? You're getting' a little flushed," he observed with a raised eyebrow.

Houki shook her head rapidly and banished her blush.

"I'm fine!" she snapped defensively, glaring at him.

The blond shrugged, "Whatever you say…, Houki-hime."

She looked away, suddenly blushing again.

He glanced out the window and found that the sun was beginning to set, casting the area in a bright orange. He frowned slightly; he would need to go soon. He still needed to meet with Dan and more importantly… plan for a visit to the ISC's global headquarters. A visit of the fiery, explosive sort, that is.

Houki saw what he was looking at and stared at him sadly, "You have to go, don't you?"

He looked at her, his frown still in place, "Unfortunately."

"You're… you're not leaving me alone again, are you?" she asked pleadingly.

He smiled slightly and lightly ruffled her soft hair, "Nah, I'll stick around for a while. I'll leave you my number and email so you can contact me whenever. You can Skype me or something when you move into your dorm."

The brunette smiled brightly, all her nervousness and fear gone in an instant.

"Arigatou, Naruto-sensei, I'll be sure to contact you when school starts."

"I'm sure that you will. Don't hesitate if you need help with something, I'm not an engineering prodigy for nothing."

Houki nodded in agreement, even Tabane would be given a run for her money in that subject. Of that, she noted with a feeling of triumph, she was 100% sure of.

"Right, arigatou again, sensei," she responded with a smile and lead him to the front door. The blond quickly scribbled his email and number down on slip of paper and pressed it into her hands. He gently closed her fingers around it and gave her a serious look.

"Houki, I'd rather my visit here be a secret, got it?"

She tilted her head quizzically, "Why?"

"Don't ask. It's nothing you need to get concerned with. Let's just say there's some… unsavory little fuckers on my tail that I'd like to avoid if at all possible, got it?" he warned calmly.

The beautiful brunette nodded hesitantly, "I understand, just… be careful, alright?"

"Hehe, don't you worry… I'll be fine… I can take care of myself…," he assured her with a conspiratorial grin.

Houki couldn't help but be worried, that grin usually meant someone was going to get hurt.

*******The*Monster*You*Made*******

Dan Gotanda winced slightly as the hooded blond perched in his windowsill began grating his claws together; producing a horrible screeching sound that caused his skin to prickle. Naruto hadn't said anything since he had arrived, but the dark look in his glowing gaze said it all. This want at all helped by the fact that Naruto was once more dressed in his intimidating hoodie and leather jacket combo.

It didn't take a genius to see that the evolved being wasn't pleased.

"By all rights, I should kill you for that shit you pulled," Naruto spoke finally, as he turned to face the pale redhead.

Dan winced, he had taken a big risk when he had contacted Houki and told her about Naruto's return. The blond was extremely adamant that the few people he cared about were kept out of harm's way. He himself was the only exception, as he had obstinately refused to distance himself from his friend.

"I know…, I fucked up, big time," Dan confessed quietly, refusing to meet Naruto's piercing gaze.

"Yeah, you bet your ass you did. However…," the blond trailed off, a small scowl curling across his lips.

Dan looked at him confusedly, not understanding his friend's hesitation.

Naruto was silent for a moment and examined the razor-edges on his talons. His scowl seemed to grow and his eyes narrowed. After another moment, he turned to regard the redhead calmly.

"However, as a result of your fuckup, I learned that Houki is attending the academy," he explained, his voice radiating a heavy amount of irritation and anger.

"What? Why? I thought she hated the I.S.?" the redhead was more confused than ever. The fact that Houki, an avid opponent of all things I.S., was attending an institution dedicated to them was baffling. And judging by the tone in Naruto's voice, there was more to it than that.

"The ISC has overstepped their bounds for the last time. I couldn't give shit if they messed with anyone else, but they decided to mess with Houki. They're forcing her to attend the academy because of her relation with Tabane. I don't have any intention to leave them be after this shit," the blond growled darkly, his lips curling into a feral sneer.

Dan's mouth opened and closed. He knew the ISC had a very bad habit of meddling with the governments of the world and influencing the UN, but intervening in the affairs of a teenage girl, even Tabane's sister?

"I don't understand, that can't be legal," Dan muttered, his red brows clinching in confusion.

Naruto shifted his weight and glared out at the star-speckled sky, "It isn't, but from what she's told me, no one is doing a damn thing to stop them. They have everyone in their fucking pockets," he explained, his claws clenching and unclenching.

Dan winced at the shrieks emitted by the gleaming blades as they brushed against each other.

"That's… that's not a good sign, is it?" Dan asked slowly.

Naruto snorted derisively, turning to regard him with a murderous grin, "Of course not, this is a fucking worst-case scenario. This shit can't continue. It's bad enough that they exist at all, but now that they've fucking pissed me off, they're gonna die, all of them… tonight."

Dan's eyes widened, "_Tonight_? Are you fucking insane?"

Naruto stood up and walked over to him, looming over him with his 6'2'' height. Dan gulped slightly, realizing for the first time how terrifying his friend truly was. It felt like he was a lemming in front of a hungry, snarling wolverine. The claws didn't help at all.

"Do I look like I'm fucking kidding?" he hissed as he leaned down to meet the redhead's gaze, "I can assure you that I've never been more serious in my fucking life."

Dan nodded shakily, frankly disturbed by the rage-induced madness in the older man's glowing eyes. Internally, he felt some pity for the ISC, just a bit. Naruto would slaughter them. He would not stop and he would definitely not show mercy.

The redhead slowly nodded, "How are you going to do it? It's not like the ISC headquarters will be like the expo. Security will be much tighter."

He was, of course, speaking of the "illustrious" _Megami no Shima_, the so-called Island of the Goddess. The island served as the global headquarters for the ISC. It was a manmade landmass about the size of the island of Hawai'i and boasted the most sophisticated defense system on earth. It was, of course, necessary considering the hatred many nations held for the committee. It would take a massive amount of firepower to destroy it.

Naruto threw his head back and let loose a peal of mad laughter. He looked at the disturbed redhead and gave a sinister, bloodthirsty grin. It radiated malice and vile intentions, it spelled death.

"Simple, I've already planned for this. I'm gonna use _Damocles,_" he said, his smile growing ever larger.

Dan looked at him, confused.

"_Damocles? _You mean the _Sword of Damocles_?"

Naruto shook his head, "No, this has nothing to do with that. _Damocles _is the codename pertaining to a certain bomber group belonging to the United States. It is composed of most of the U.S.'s supersonic bombers as well as a few other planes."

He paused, letting his redheaded cohort digest the information before continuing.

"Normally, I don't give a damn about military shit not pertaining to the I.S., but this is a different situation. These jets are the most powerful singular force in the world aside from the I.S. Each one carries no less than ten B83 variable yield nuclear warheads tuned for grand total output of over 12000 kilotons, more than 571.4 times greater than the _Fat Man_ dropped on Nagasaki during WWII," he finished, his mind immediately calculating the yields and coming up with an exact answer faster than any computer on earth.

Dan's eyes widened at the implications of such a huge payload, "My god, that's enough to vaporize a small country…"

Naruto grinned, "Yep, and conveniently, the B-2 _Spirit of Indiana,_ is currently undergoing repairs for a blown engine in Fussa."

"You… you're going to nuke them?" Dan's eyes were wide in shock. His friend was a confirmed terrorist, but he'd never undertaken something this radical before. Honestly, he couldn't care less about what happened to the ISC, but for Naruto to even contemplate _nuking _them of all things…

"Yep," the hooded man affirmed simply.

"You're… you're serious about this, aren't you?"

Naruto rolled his eyes and sighed exasperatedly, "Again, does it look like I'm fucking kidding? No, I didn't think so. This needs to be done if our plans are to succeed."

Dan nodded slightly in agreement. While he didn't agree with the methods Naruto used, he did agree with the motives behind them. The ISC needed to be stopped. He'd played far too many video games to not realize that the ISC gaining absolute power was a very bad thing.

"So how are you going to do it? It's not like you can just steal the bomber and just mosey on over 2000 miles to _nuke_ them of all things. They will do everything in their power to stop you. And I'm pretty sure that a lone B-2, as sophisticated as it is, will be a sitting duck when they send some I.S.s after you."

"Oh I know," Naruto spoke with a wild grin, "That's why I planned ahead. After all, waste not, want not."

Dan's eyes widened at the implications.

*******The*Monster*You*Made*******

Night had fallen over the Yokota Air Base, which was nearly barren, save for a small contingent of US Air Force commandos and a squad of mechanics swarming over a the titanic boomerang shape of the B-2 bomber, _Spirit of Indiana_. They were quite busy, given the franticness of their movements. But then again, it made sense given the cargo, which was top-secret to other nations.

And considering the threat to the I.S.'s superiority the nuke still posed, secrecy of the _Damocles _bomber division's cargo was paramount.

From atop the control tower looming over the runway, Naruto grinned savagely. The US would definitely suffer as a result of his actions, but he didn't care. The world would soon learn that the I.S. was not invincible, and that the ISC's power was ill-placed.

"That is, if there's even an ISC left by the time I'm done with it…," the hooded terrorist chuckled darkly.

His eyes narrowed as he examined the area below, taking in each and every guard position and memorizing it. Unlike the I.S. expo, he would take no chances. The B-2 bomber he would be "commandeering" had the agility of a hippo, not ideal if being pursued by a squad of I.S.

Thus, he would need as much of a head start as he could get to get to a high altitude where the I.S. couldn't reach or detect him.

"_**Did you take care of the guys in the control tower?"**_his tactical advisor's voice asked in his ear.

Naruto grinned, "Yeah, already taken care of. As for these poor fucks, if I just go down there and kill their asses, they'll no doubt call for reinforcements. I'll have to take 'em all out at once."

"_**And just how do you plan to do that? Are you going to use your… tentacles?"**_ Dan sounded slightly sickened by the thought.

Naruto shook his head and grinned widely, his claws emerging in a swarm of black tendrils.

"Nah, I have something else in mind. I've been looking to test out something special," he said.

"_**Something special? Do I even want to know?"**_

Naruto laughed slightly at his friend's discomfort. The redhead had still not gotten used to the blond's newly discovered control over his body, his tendrils in particular.

"Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show."

The blond coiled the metallic fibers that served as his muscles and leapt nearly ten stories in the air. He spread his arms out and began to glide over the runway with streams of green energy streaming from his limbs. As soon as he was over the center of the guard contingent, he tucked his limbs in and hurled himself downward like a bomb with his entire body writhing with black tendrils.

*******The*Monster*You*Made*******

"Hey! Are you guys about done with the engine yet!?" the pilot of the _Spirit of Indiana _called out at the swarm of mechanics buzzing about the boomerang-shaped aircraft.

"No! This kind of repair takes time! If we screw up, you're fucked!" one of the mechanics standing atop the wing shouted back with an annoyed tone.

The pilot nodded and turned to his co-pilot with a sigh, "I swear, these techies… there's no arguing with 'em."

The co-pilot nodded in agreement, "Yeah, true that, but they're tellin' the truth. This is delicate work, can't be rushed. If that engine blew up over the pacific, there'd be no saving us and our… _cargo_."

The pilot nodded, "Yeah, even if we lived, we'd be shot for sure for losing _that_."

"Uh huh, hey, you hear about that shit Uzumaki pulled yesterday?" the co-pilot asked.

"Heard about it? It's all over the place; a single man broke into the 'nigh-impenetrable' I.S. expo and made off with a prototype I.S. and enough equipment to bankrupt a small country without being caught. Yeah, I've heard, why're you asking?" the pilot responded.

The co-pilot shifted slightly and looked up at the twinkling stars, "They're hiding something. I was talking to someone from the JSDF battalion that was assigned to guard detail for the expo and they said that there were _three_ I.S. on constant watch for anything."

The pilot looked at his comrade disbelievingly, "_Three?_"

"Yeah, that's not supposed to happen. No human on earth, no matter their equipment, could've have done that without raising an alarm. Something's up, but the ISC isn't telling."

A barely audible whistling started to echo through the air, but everyone dismissed it as the wind.

"What so you think that there's some kind of conspiracy?"

The co-pilot nodded, "The ISC's is covering it up. A stain on the I.S.'s perfect track record would be enough to shake the world's faith in it. They wouldn't think it was invincible anymore. And to the ISC, that is a very bad thing. Plus, it was rumored the guarding I.S's were never found, despite the following engagement."

The whistling grew louder.

"So the ISC's trying to cover it up to save its influence? That doesn't sound-"

"**INCOMING, YOU LITTLE FUCKERS! HAHAHAHHAHA!" **a loud, boisterous voice laughed insanely from above.

The two men didn't even have time to look before a black and green blur dive-bombed into the runway. The reinforced concrete splintered on impact, hurling a billowing cloud of smoke and debris into the air. Everyone felt the ground shudder beneath them before huge spines of black metal erupted from below.

They didn't even have time to scream or run before they were impaled on the growing spines. The towering spikes continued to grow and branch out like trees, piercing more men with lethal precision until only one unfortunate soul remained.

The lone mechanic that stood atop the wing of the B-2 scrambled over himself and attempted to run when a writhing tendril from the cloud of dust lanced out and impaled the fleeing man through the gut.

"Guh," the man gurgled as the tendril dragged him through the air towards the clearing dust.

"Huh, so I missed one on the first run, eh?" the smoke cleared, the reveal a young man with glowing green eyes dressed in an orange hoodie and black leather jacket. His arms were covered in spiny black armor and his fingers were replaced by foot long silver claws, one of which was thrust in the ground. The tendril he was impaled on slithered out of the man's back.

Uzumaki Naruto had arrived.

The man could only utter another gurgle.

The hooded man snorted and wrenched his claw out of the ground. The towering graveyard of spines that had impaled everyone followed suit and slowly retreated back into the ground, rejoining with the terrorist's body.

Naruto chuckled at the man, who looked absolutely terrified and about ready to piss himself. He leaned forward and displayed his shark-like teeth in a twisted grin. He pulled the man closer and trailed his right claw across his throat, drawing a thin line of blood.

"So tell me, Mr. Mechanic-man," he drawled, "Do you feel dead?"

The man impaled on his tendril managed to muster up his remaining energy to unholster his Desert Eagle and shoot him in the face before dying.

Naruto, who completely ignored the .50 caliber hole punched in his forehead, frowned slightly and tossed the man away carelessly with but a flick of his tendril.

"I'll take that as a no," he muttered, his grin growing larger.

He turned away from the devastation and walked towards the blood-spattered form of the B-2. He rolled his tongue in his mouth and turned his head, spitting a lone .50 cal slug off to the side like a loogie.

The hooded terrorist wasted no time in entering the B-2 through the cargo door, not even stopping to gaze at the metal racks loaded with the ten white bombs he'd be using to reduce the ISC to molten slag. He entered the cockpit and sat down in the pilot's chair, making a disgusted face at the frankly stupid amount of switches, buttons, and levers adorning the control console.

"Yeah, no."

Naruto raised his right arm and plunged his claw deep into the interface. Black tendrils then proceeded to emerge and crawl across every surface, digging into the B-2's very construction and taking complete control. Within moments, the interface lit up with a poisonous green glow as Naruto took control over the flight systems.

And suddenly, he could _feel_ the bomber like it was actually a part of him.

Naruto smiled slightly as he _felt _the bomber's four giant turbofans begin to spin at his command, emitting a high pitched whine that grew louder with every passing second. He closed the open cargo doors and disengaged the brakes.

"And here we go…," he muttered.

He opened up the throttle and quickly taxied the bomber onto the runway. The whine from the engines became an absolutely deafening roar and the gigantic war machine began to roll down the runway, gaining speed rapidly as the base's alarms began to sound. No doubt that someone had noticed the lack of communications and that a 1.07 billion dollar bomber loaded with nukes was launching by itself.

Naruto grinned slightly. It didn't matter I they noticed him; he still had time to get away from mainland Japan. The Yokota air base, along with many others, had been decommissioned as a concession of the Alaska Treaty. And as such, the base was only used as storage or repairs; it had no actual military armament.

And therefore couldn't do shit.

But just to be safe…

His eyes flashed a violent green and he simultaneously hacked every military terminal in the US and Japan. This was only slightly harder than hacking through multiple doors back at the Expo. The intercontinental nuclear missiles had redundant control systems, and hardwire to not operate at any distance except directly. But it wasn't like he needed them with the little babies sitting cozily in the cargo bay.

After all, he didn't want a repeat of the I.S. debut of the _White Knight_, he wanted the exact opposite.

He could only imagine the rage being felt by those countries when they found that were unable to launch their fighters due to them being the victim of the biggest _Rick Roll_ in human history.

Naruto laughed darkly. It was so much fun trolling them.

Turning his attention back to manner at hand, the blond pulled the massive bomber up and felt it slide easily into a relatively steep climb into the clouds. He leveled off once he had reached the maximum altitude the B-2's engines could take and began the long 2000 mile trek to the ISC's island headquarters.

Once he had left the base's airspace, Naruto leaned back in his chair with a mad grin, completely uncaring of the pandemonium brewing below him.

"And now to play the waiting game…"

He waited for around fifteen minutes before he finally detected some activity. He glanced behind him through the B-2's rear camera and spied a rather large squadron of F-35 _Lightning IIs_ trying to be stealthy and catch him by surprise. He smiled coldly and stood up, removing his claws from the center console, and walking towards the cargo bay.

The B-2 Spirit, while an amazing piece of technology, lacked any exterior weapons. This, combined with its abysmal maneuverability, made it an easy target, especially to a squad of the most sophisticated fighter jets in the world.

This meant he would have to deal with them _personally._

He walked over to one of the walls and seemed to melt through it like it was made of liquid.

*******The*Monster*You*Made*******

The winds whipped past the B-2's smooth wings when the polygraphite plating near the engines began to ooze a thick black liquid from the miniscule cracks in between the panels. The liquid proceeded to gather together in one big frothing puddle and rise up, solidifying into a human form.

Naruto stood up straight and rolled his shoulders as if he wasn't standing thousands of feet over the pacific with winds over six hundred miles an hour whipping passed him.

He stared at approaching fighters and grinned darkly, "A valiant effort, gentlemen. But I've come too far to let you fuck this up for me."

He raised his right claw and grinned as it began to twist and morph, "I've been waiting to use this since I consumed it at the expo…"

His claws merged together and lengthened, gaining bulk and hollowing out into a narrow tube-like structure while a long curving protrusion emerged from where his wrist would be. The writhing biomass then receded to reveal an infected rifle covered in twisting black armor.

The rifle was one of many weapons he had consumed along with the _Toradora_ while at the I.S. Expo the night before. And along with the claws gained from the consumption of the Sarashiki prototype I.S., all of the weapons were a part of him, just like an arm or a leg.

A human-sized figure with I.S. grade weapons was bound to cause many problems, given the weapon could pop up anywhere, anytime.

Naruto's eyesight was suddenly dominated by a complex reticle more sophisticated than anything currently in mass-production.

Naruto raised the weapon and expertly targeted the lead fighter and fired.

A great flash of green flame erupted from the barrel, followed by deafening bang that could be heard even over the howling winds and the wail of the engines. Naruto quickly grafted his feet to the bomber as the recoil threatened to throw him backwards.

He watched with a widening grin as the first fighter went down in flames not even a second after he fired. It had literally crumpled under the firepower, before the engines, still running, had exploded in a plume of fire and shrapnel that blanketed the night sky.

The terrorist wasted no time in targeting the next jet and firing before shifting to the others and firing in rapid succession faster than a normal human would be able to comprehend.

Within the span of a few scant seconds, all eight of the jets pursuing him were falling to earth consumed in balls of fire.

"One shot, one kill… fuckin' great," he laughed triumphantly as he reverted his rifle arm back into its claw for and collapsed his body into its liquid state, oozing back into the interior of the B-2.

Should anyone else come after him, he would not give any quarter.

*******The*Monster*You*Made*******

Orimura Chifuyu was tired, scratch that, very tired.

She hadn't got much sleep these past two days, all on the account of a certain hooded terrorist. The Haruno bitch had not let her have a lick of sleep on account of her "failure" to protect the International Expo. The candy-haired woman insisted that it was her fault that Uzumaki had made off with so much equipment.

Chifuyu had wanted nothing more to retrieve _Kurazakura _from retirement and utterly destroy the bitch, but refrained from doing so for her brother's sake. She would not put Ichika in danger, even if it meant bowing her head to the ISC.

Uzumaki, however, had no such intentions.

Uzumaki Naruto had officially become a big problem. At first, the ISC and UN had dismissed him as a simple rabble-rouser with anarchistic tendencies, a minor irritation at best. Now though, he was the most wanted terrorist since the late Al-Qaida leader, Osama bin Laden.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that the hijacking of the bomber was his work.

But in typical ISC fashion, the course of action taken was to dispatch a squad of F-35s to take it down. This proved to be ineffective, as they had lost contact with the entire squad the second they had sighted the bomber.

Naturally, the ISC played it off as the fault of the pilots and the "inferior" equipment as though they weren't the ones who approved the strike team in the first place. Now they were trying to salvage their bruised ego by putting together a group of I.S. academy instructors to shoot Uzumaki down before he could drop the deadly payload on some unfortunate target, wherever it was.

She snorted, _"Morons… every last one of them."_

She walked to the front of the room and glanced out at the expectant eyes of her colleagues.

"Alright, listen up! Approximately a half-hour ago known terrorist Uzumaki Naruto hijacked a B-2 bomber from the Yokota Air Base containing ten B83-type nuclear warheads tuned for a total output of over 12000 kilotons of TNT."

She paused for a moment to allow her shocked co-workers to digest the information before continuing.

"Our mission is to take him down before he can reach his destination," a map of the pacific appeared behind her, depicting the current position of the rogue bomber, "You are authorized to use any and all mean to accomplish the mission. He must not be allowed to make landfall. You will report to Maya-sensei, she will lead the attack. Specifications regarding the bomber will be uploaded to your I.S's the minute you launch. Due to its stealth functions, we will scramble formations at the last known position where the F-35s were shot down and proceed from there. Any questions?"

A single hand was raised, "Yes, Kurenai-sensei?"

The woman, a young beauty with long wavy black hair and crimson eyes, stood up.

"With all due respect, Chifuyu-sensei, is all this really necessary? I mean, he is JUST a male… He's hardly worth the effort."

Chifuyu's beautiful features darkened almost instantly and a scowl curled across her lips, "Kurenai-sensei, the fact that Uzumaki is, as you put it, JUST a male is irrelevant. He is a threat, he is carrying more than enough firepower to wipe out a country, and you will treat him as such. Is. That. Understood?"

The woman, Kurenai, sat down with frightened look on her face, "Y-yes, Chifuyu-sensei…"

Chifuyu nodded, "Alright, is there anything else you want to know before you sortie?"

Yamada Maya raised her hand, "Yes, Maya-sensei?"

"Is there anything about Uzumaki we should know?"

Chifuyu nodded grimly, "Yes… though it is mostly speculation based on his heist of the expo yesterday… There may be a minute chance that Uzumaki is able to use and I.S…."

Immediately, the room fell in disarray, with many of the assembled teachers voicing their denials at what they considered as sacrilege. It was bad enough that one male was able to use one, but a terrorist? They didn't want to accept it.

"SHUT UP!" Chifuyu roared, silencing them instantly.

"This is neither the time nor the place for your goddamn opinions! I don't care if it makes you mad, I don't care if it irritates you, what I care about is getting the mission done without a hitch! Now… can I trust you to carry this out successfully, whether Uzumaki is able to pilot an I.S. or not?"

"Hai!" was the unanimous cry.

She nodded resolutely, "Alright then, suit up and move out!"

The assembled women stood up and began making their way out of the conference room.

"Oh, and if you have the chance," she spoke with narrowed eyes, "Take Uzumaki alive."

*******The*Monster*You*Made*******

Naruto leaned back in his seat with a contemplative expression on his face. It was strange, since he had disposed of the fighter jets; he had not encountered any other form of resistance. It put him slightly on edge.

Normally, he wouldn't have cared, but now that he had to watch over the vulnerable B-2, he was more attentive than usual.

He couldn't call Dan at the moment, given the fact that any and all transmissions were being monitored. It was irritating.

Suddenly, the B-2's warning klaxons began to sound, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"What!?" he snarled, quickly looking behind via the rear-view camera to see a veritable cloud of missiles on his tail.

"Shit! How the hell did they sneak up on me?!" he banked sharply to the right and deployed a large amount of flares to lure the missiles away from him.

He scanned the clouds and growled in irritation when he saw a squad five I.S. rapidly catching up to him, armed to the teeth. Just by looking at the dead serious face of the young bespectacled, green-haired woman in a grey _Raphael Revive II_ leading the squad, he could tell that these pilots were not rookies. They were most likely instructors at the academy.

He immediately matched the green–haired woman's face to the ISC's database and grimaced slightly.

"_Shit," _he thought with bared teeth, _"Yamada Maya, huh? Fuck, she's a former representative for Japan. Extremely skilled in ranged combat and veteran Raphael Revive pilot. If it was just her, I could handle it, but she brought friends and they're definitely not slackers."_

The bomber suddenly shuddered as a hail of automatic gunfire danced across its wings, punching holes in them like they were made of paper. He became aware of the blaring alarms and lights flashing across the infected dashboard that he was losing fuel fast and that one of his engines was on fire. His biomass had already begun repairing the damage when the fuel ignited, causing a massive explosion from the right wing, wreathing the entire bomber in black smoke.

He felt the entire bomber coming apart at the seams and stood up from his seat. His entire body quickly enshrouded in writhing biomass until only his glowing eyes were visible.

"**If you fuckers think that I'm just going to roll over and die, then you are wrong on so many goddamn levels. I've come too far for you to fuck this up!" **he snarled in a deeper, darker sounding voice.

And then tendrils burst from his body in all directions.

*******The*Monster*You*Made*******

Maya sighed sadly as he watched the rogue bomber be consumed in flame. Internally, she hoped that Uzumaki had managed to eject before the fuel ignited. No one, not even a terrorist of his caliber, deserved to die in such a horrible manner, burning to death without any hope of survival.

She looked away, unable to stomach the morbid thoughts running across her mind. And judging by the slightly green looks crossing her colleagues' faces, she wasn't the only one who thought so. They were not soldiers, they were school teachers.

"_**Maya, can you hear me?"**_Chifuyu's voice called out from her mike.

"Yeah, loud and clear," she replied tiredly.

"_**You alright?"**_Chifuyu asked, sounding slightly concerned at the defeated tone in the green-haired woman's voice.

Maya ran an armored hand through her hair and sighed, "Yeah, it's just…"

Chifuyu was silent for a moment, _**"Don't worry too much, Maya. I know you don't like killing, but you saved a lot of lives tonight. If Uzumaki had bombed his target, the results would have been… catastrophic."**_

Maya blinked slightly in confusion, "Did you manage to pinpoint his intended target?"

"_**It's merely speculation, but I have a feeling that he was planning on bombing the ISC's island headquarters."**_

Maya's eyes widened, "Really?"

"_**Yes, it is a very viable option considering the virulent dislike for the ISC and their influences in the world governments,"**_Chifuyu said calmly.

Maya winced, "That makes sense… but that doesn't mean I have to-!"

"Maya-sensei!" one of her squadmates yelled with a frantic voice.

Maya whirled around and felt her eyes go wide in disbelief as a gigantic, alien-looking aircraft erupt from the cloud of flames with an otherworldly scream.

It possessed the same titanic structure and boomerang shape as the B-2 they had thought destroyed, but that was where the similarities ended. The sleek, grey plating had been wrenched violently apart by massive, coiling tendrils and spires of jet black metal flecked with glowing green veins. Twisted, complex-looking engines made out of the same black metal bulged obscenely from the shattered casings, belching out huge cones of green flame as it sped ahead of them.

"That's impossible!" Kurenai shouted in shock, backing away from the infected bomber like it the plague.

"Is it now?" a cruel male voice laughed from behind them.

Maya slowly turned around and froze when her olive green eyes locked with glowing neon orbs shining malevolently from beneath a hooded orange jacket.

"Uzumaki Naruto…," she breathed slowly raising her P90's.

The hooded man floated in between them and the fleeing bomber… but that was hardly the worst part.

He was using an Infinite Stratos.

*******The*Monster*You*Made*******

**Well, what did you think?**

**Once again, I'll apologize if it seems a little strained or sappy. It does seem a little OOC for Houki to act as she did, but remember, Naruto has left a bit of a mark on her. She is **_**slightly **_**different form her canon self as a result.**

**Expect a new update… soon.**

**And if you have some ideas, don't hesitate to share. It'll help the writer's block I'm currently working through. As for questions, ill answer them as best I can without spoiling anything.**

**Maybe I'll play some more Prototype II to get the muse back…**

**Ciao!**

**Imperium Rhomania**


	4. NEWS

Sup, this is a follow up to my "Dreaded AN", as it were.

I did some some fishing this weekend, attended the JDM Chicago meet and this got me thinking. Don't ask me why.

I came to the conclusion that perhaps I was hasty in thinking I needed to completely revise my stories.

Well, for the most part anyways...

The Monster You Made will **not** be revised, but I will be injecting some little things here and there into earlier chapters to improve coherency and flesh out the plot a bit more. Nothing serious, just a few things.

The story is fairly decent as it is, and that should be fine.

The Kampfer of Pain however...

I reread it recently and I can't help but cringe. It is in dire need of revision, in my honest opinion.

Back when I started writing for this site, I was not a very good creative writer. I'm far from perfect even now, but I am better than I was. And my ineptitude kind of shows through the halting plot-line and the stupid cliches I was trying to avoid.

It's almost sickening.

So the Kampfer of Pain will be** torn apart** and **completely redone**, with a new plot-line and new background.

If this disappointing anyone, I'm sorry, but that's just too fucking bad.

Regards,

Imperium


End file.
